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AE: There are certain practical considerations to that as well, in addition to personal considerations. For example, if you were still a competing athlete, do you think you would be out, as you are now?
MT: Hard question. I would like to think that I would. I would like to think that the environment would be different, because in my era one of the things that kept me closeted was a morality clause that was in all of my business contracts. And I quite frankly needed that money to help me win the Olympics, so it was really a Catch-22. And at that time, being gay was certainly considered as something that would bring public disdain. I don't think the company could use that argument today, given the enormous leaps we've made in terms of popular culture with gay and lesbian visibility.

AE: In the book "Inside Out," you relate the following, if I may quote this passage: "I posed a problem for [some people] because on one hand they admired what I stood for as an athlete and Olympian, and on the other hand my announcement" -- that is, being homosexual -- "disgusted them. I hoped to bridge that gap." Do you feel that you are part of that cultural shift? Are you succeeding in bridging that gap between how people perceive our accomplishments and how they perceive us as individuals?
MT: I certainly feel like I'm doing the best that I can, and certainly [have] no regrets with that decision. I'm doing what I can, and I don't feel like I have to think about who I am, and what part of my life [I can speak to at any given time], and it's just such a great, healthy way for me [to live]. I guess it's actually kind of selfish, because I feel great. And then the benefit of that, hopefully, is that other people get to have some of their ideas challenged.

AE: It sounds like that process of coming out was worth it in the end, although it was very costly at times.
MT: Very [costly], and the book is about coming out, in a sense, but it's also about the human journey of coming to terms with who you are. I was very surprised when I came out publicly in 1998. It took many more years until I was really able to talk about my life openly. Now, keep in mind my life is also [about] sharing some of my experiences, because I'm a speaker, and I would find that if I shared a story that dealt with a partner or a gay issue, the audience would just -- I'd lose them. That's not the case anymore, and I think it's partly [due to] my own comfort, and also [a change in the times].

AE: Did you have any reservations while writing "Inside Out" about some of the stories that are funny and moving, but also speak to the heart of being gay? Like the story of your father catching you taking a bath with a Barbie doll -- did you ever say to yourself, "Maybe I should edit this a little?" Or did you maintain a sense of comfort, a sense that it was okay just to forge ahead and tell all?
MT: I just felt it was really time. I didn't edit that way at all. There were certainly times after it was written when I thought, "Wow--there's a lot of things people won't be expecting in there!" But I wanted to show the whole picture, and I think if you're going to do a book like the one I did, it has to be honest, and it can't just be a snapshot of all the nice things you want people to know.

What was amazing as I was writing was I found that many of those things which were kind of open, and maybe were a bit painful...closed toward the end of my story, and I realized the book ended in a full circle, and that's really what I had felt the journey had done.

AE: In this book, you make a real point of distinguishing between sex as an act, and sexuality. If I may quote again, you write in one passage: "I was talking about my sexuality, how I connected to the world, how I felt love, how I was human." What is it about that distinction between sexuality and sexual acts that some people just don't get?
MT: I think that maybe they, especially straight guys, can't get past the fact that we are attracted to same-sex partners. Behind that [attraction] there's … well, it can be just physical, but usually if you're going to have a long-term relationship with somebody, there's some deep emotional, spiritual, psychological connection, and for me that's the part that I wanted to talk about.

I didn't want to go on TV and talk about what I did behind closed doors in the bedroom while we had sex. I don't want to know what my mom does in bed any more than she wants to know what I do in bed. But I am interested in what her and her friends do in their lives, and that [generally includes] sexuality.

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