In a recent interview with Rolling
Stone, out singer-actor Ricky Martin talked about coming out gay.
Martin, who is promoting his latest
album, Pausa, came out as gay in 2010. He married husband Jwan
Yosef in 2017. Together the couple is raising four children.
Rolling Stone asked Martin, 48,
what it was like to remain closeted during “the most public,
exposed period” of his life.
“I had moments of extreme positivity,
and not so positive [moments],” Martin
answered. “Life was a bit on steroids in those days. Everything
was really intense, but I could take it! I come from a school of
military discipline when it comes to training for music, dance, and
acting. I started when I was 12. So for me, it was about not being
ready to open [up]. When you open an egg from the outside, what comes
out is death. But when the egg opens from the inside, what comes out
is life. It’s something that needs to come from within. Every time
someone forces someone to come out, what you’re doing is you’re
destroying the natural flow of the self-discovery.”
When asked what motivated him to come
out publicly, Martin said that a kid somewhere in America needs to
see positive headlines about coming out.
“Today I woke up to this beautiful
headline that I know someone out there is in need of. The headline
was something like, 'I came out. And ever since I’ve been the
happiest.' Something like that, something… My heart is beating
faster because I know today a kid somewhere in America woke up
needing to hear those words. A lot of people say they get tired of
talking about the same thing. Why would I? Are you kidding me? For so
many years I had to keep it inside. And then the effect of someone…
What people are getting from it in their healing process?”
“I'm happy,” he added.