MR: What has it done to your life to say, you know, yes you know, I’m George Michael. I’m gay and proud of it.
GM: Well to be honest with you, I can’t think of any other gay celebrity whose life got harder after they came out. You know, after 14 years or so of living as an out-gay man to the public — I mean, I was living as an out gay man in my personal life — and you know the boyfriends I had, I held hands with them in the streets …
MR: You actually did that?
GM: Yeah, I did. I did that stuff. I never lived differently! I told my friends, some of my friends when I was very young told some of my friends when I was on my mid-twenties and didn’t tell my parents (they’re normally the last to know) until my partner died in 1993. But the point is, I’ve lived as a gay man and not really written about the issues other than my personal relationships. If I can be really honest about this, and this is not my ego talking although it’s very flattering, the truth about me seems to be that my sexuality for an awful lot of women didn’t seem to make a difference in terms of their feelings about me after I came out. I mean, you know, you have to go to the shows to see that ..
SOURCE: George Michael Symphonica Interview on Denmark Television (2011)