Being gay is a fundamental part of my being - the core of who I've always been, and the thing that I had repressed and run from all my life.

More than anything else I recall being, or trying very deliberately to be, a perfect child. Not a Goody Two-shoes, but a kid who did good, who worked hard and met every expectation. I strove to achieve in the excessive way that psychotherapists tend to regard with concern.

Because of an adulterous affair I shall leave office in November.

I do not believe that God tortures any person simply for its own sake. I believe that God enables all things to work for the greater good.

I'm on the board of a national group called Faith in America. It's designed to fight religious-based bigotry.

But being in the closet uniquely assisted me in politics. From my first run for the state legislature until my election as governor, all too often I was not leading but following my best guess at public opinion.

Being gay is a fundamental part of my being - the core of who I've always been, and the thing that I had repressed and run from all my life.