I'm going to skate exactly the way I want to, create programs that I like, and everything will fall into place where it is supposed to.

Figure skating is theatrical, and a part of it is wearing costumes. My costumes were very over-the-top and outrageous for figure skating. But for me, it's all beautiful. Even when nobody else believed they were beautiful, I felt beautiful in them.

I definitely don't think of myself as an actual male model. I'm far too short and my legs are far too muscular.

It's of very little importance to me that I was born gay. It doesn't make me a better athlete, it doesn't make me a stronger person, it doesn't really do anything to enhance my life. It's just something I was born with, the same as green eyes.

To me, skating should look effortless even when you're doing the hardest of elements.

I think I've gotten more attention after the Olympics than any other U.S. athlete, and it's really great that people are recognizing who I am and what I do. You look at Shaq and you see a basketball player. You look at Tiger Woods and you see a golfer. But people are responding to who I am.

When you are an athlete, it's difficult to take time off and say you want to come back without everyone judging you and attacking you.