If there's anything I've learned in this half-century adventure of life, it's that being gay is no private matter. In this historic week, when the "Defense of Marriage Act" was struck down by the Supreme Court, I salute all of those people who have had the courage to stand up, publicly, and say: I'm gay, I'm proud, and I demand equal rights under the law.
I applaud all of those people who surrender their privacy to tell their stories, to show the world their all-too-human faces.
It takes great dignity to show the world your battered face, bloodied in a homophobic attack on the streets of Paris.
It takes great dignity to show the world your raw grief at the loss of your partner.
It takes great dignity to walk onto the pitch as a professional sportsman to come out.
The world is a richer place for the magnanimity of these people.
Being gay is no private matter. As each new person finds the strength and confidence to come out, as the laws evolve to provide dignity and equality for all of us, and as more and more of us share our stories, like my colleagues at Google: It gets better.
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