“Many people told me: ‘Ricky it’s not important,’ ‘it’s not worth it,’ ‘all the years you’ve worked and everything you’ve built will collapse,’ ‘many people in the world are not ready to accept your truth, your reality, your nature.’ Because all this advice came from people who I love dearly, I decided to move on with my life not sharing with the world my entire truth. Allowing myself to be seduced by fear and insecurity became a self-fulfilling prophecy of sabotage. Today I take full responsibility for my decisions and my actions.”

“I’ll tell you, this last election was a big learning experience for me and I’ve come to the very clear realization that the battle is not between Republican and Democrat – and yes, we disagree on many social issues and the government shouldn’t legislate morality anyway. ... If we took a moment and just stopped fighting each other and looked around – it doesn’t matter if it’s Republican or Democrat, there’s entities, there are corporations that are making the rules in our society and in our country now. That’s what needs to change. Obama still answers to those people, the same as George Bush did. We’re silly if we think it’s otherwise.”

“When I heard Kathy Griffin was going to be a spokeswoman for Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, I wondered about that. I have great respect for her as an advocate. But if (the Human Rights Campaign) thinks that having a rally at Freedom Plaza (March 18) with a comedienne is the right approach, I have to wonder. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is not a joking matter to me. To be at Freedom Plaza and not at the White House or Congress? Who are they trying to influence? I felt like they were just trying to speak to themselves. If that’s the best the lobbying groups and HRC can do, then I don’t know how these powerful groups are supposed to represent our community. Kathy Griffin and (HRC president) Joe Solmonese said they would march with me to the White House (March 18) but didn’t. I feel so betrayed by them.”