Cynthia Nixon has said that being gay for her is a choice.

The 45-year-old Nixon is best known for playing Miranda Hobbes on the HBO series Sex and the City. After a 15-year relationship with Danny Mozes, with whom she shares custody of two children, Nixon began dating education activist Christine Mariononi. The women are engaged to be married.

Speaking with The New York Times, Nixon said that for her being gay is a choice.

“I totally reject that,” she said of those who have questioned her switch in sexual orientation. “I gave a speech recently, an empowerment speech to a gay audience, and it included the line 'I've been straight and I've been gay, and gay is better.' And they tried to get me to change it, because they said it implies that homosexuality can be a choice. And for me, it is a choice. I understand that for many people it's not, but for me it's a choice, and you don't get to define my gayness for me. A certain section of our community is very concerned that it not be seen as a choice, because if it's a choice, then we could opt out. I say it doesn't matter if we flew here or we swam here, it matters that we are here and we are one group and let us stop trying to make litmus test for who is considered gay and who is not.”

Her face red, she added: “As you can tell, I am very annoyed about this issue.”

“It seems we're just ceding this point to bigots who are demanding it, and I don't think that they should define the terms of the debate. I also feel like people think I was walking around in a cloud and didn't realize I was gay, which I find really offensive. I find it offensive to me, but also find it offensive to all the men I've been out with.”