Jim Nabors, who played lovable, naive Gomer Pyle on “The Andy Griffith Show” and, later, on a successful spin-off series, has decided to take one of the biggest steps in a LGBT individual’s life and come out.

The news comes right as Nabors finally got hitched to his partner of 38 years, Stan Cadwallader, and he says he couldn’t be happier.

“I’m 82 and he’s in his 60s and so we’ve been together for 38 years, and I’m not ashamed of people knowing, it’s just that it was such a personal thing I didn’t tell anybody,” Nabors said. “I’m very happy that I’ve had a partner of 38 years and I feel very blessed. And what can I tell you, I’m just very happy.”

The 82-year old actor says he doesn’t think it’s that big a deal, as he’s known he was gay since he was a young boy. He also says he’s not an activist and knows about the hardships those in the LGBT community have to face, so he never spoke publicly about it, though everyone around him always knew.

“I’ve never made a huge secret of it at all,” Nabors said. “This is really no big deal. My friend and I, my partner, we went through all of this 38 years ago. So I mean, we made our vows and that was it. It was to each other, but nevertheless, we were a couple.”

In other words, it may now be official according to Seattle laws, but for Nabors and Cadwallader, it was official a long time ago.

Hawaii News Now – KGMB and KHNL