And while Hayes finally opens up, he never quite gives a “Yes, I’m gay” soundbite.

“I am who I am,” Hayes told the Advocate. “I was never in, as they say. Never.”

But offering a few choice words for the gay press, including The Advocate -- which long criticized his silence -- Hayes dismisses any notion that he should have come out sooner.

"Nobody owes anything to anybody," he says. "You are your authentic self to whom and when you choose to be, and if you don't know somebody, then why would you explain to them how you live your life?"

To this day, Hayes feels burned by a story that ran in the Advocate in anticipation of the series finale of Will & Grace.

Titled 'Sean Hayes: The Interview He Never Gave,' the one-page 'Q&A' was a clip job of quotes he’d given to other publications through the years that made him look rather silly for pretending no one knew he was gay.

And Hayes gets right to the point:

“I feel like I’ve contributed monumentally to the success of the gay movement in America, and if anyone wants to argue that, I’m open to it. You’re welcome, Advocate.”

That sarcasm and anger cover up years of genuinely hurt feelings.

“Why would you go down that path with somebody who’s done so much to contribute to the gay community?” he asks. “That was my beef about it. What more do you want me to do? Do you want me to stand on a float? And then what? It’s never enough.

In the interview, Hayes explains that he really believed that if he didn’t share his personal life, he wouldn’t be typecast. However, studio execs, he feels, couldn’t get past the “Jack” persona, despite the ambiguity of his personal life.

Read the full interview at Advocate.com.