Ricky Martin's revelation that he is
gay has prompted mostly cheers.
The thirty-eight-year-old father of two
admitted he is gay in a statement both in English and Spanish on his
website. The posting was also linked to from his Twitter account.
“I am proud to say that I am a
fortunate homosexual man,” Martin said. “I am very blessed to be
who I am.”
The Puerto Rican star began his singing
career in the teen group Menudo and crossed over to English with the
wildly popular single Livin' la Vida Loca in
1999.
Jarrett Barrios, president of the Gay &
Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), said Martin's coming out
“can lead to greater acceptance for countless gay people in the US,
in Latin America and worldwide.”
“When someone like Ricky Martin comes
out, hundreds of millions of people now have a cultural connection
with an artist, a celebrity and, perhaps most importantly, a father
who happens to be gay,” he said.
Barrios can certainly identify. The
Cuban-American is married to political consultant Doug Hattaway and
the couple is raising two teenage sons.
“Finally!” celebrity blogger Perez
Hilton said, reminding readers that Martin's sexual orientation has
been the subject of long-time rumors.
Rumors about Martin's sexuality go back
as far as the late 90s. In a 2000 The Mirror interview,
Martin denied he was gay: “I guess these rumors [about being gay]
were started by people who don't have a life, or perhaps it's because
they want me to be like them and I'm not. I try not to pay attention
to any of these allegations. I could have been married with kids for
years or have 27 girlfriends, and if people still want to go around
saying that I'm gay, they will.”
“We're very happy for you, Ricky,”
Perez, who is openly gay, added.
Martin said writing his memoirs had
prompted him to come out of the closet. He said he kept his
sexuality a secret because he believed it would hurt his career.
But readers at the BBC's Have Your
Say website mostly disagreed, saying being gay was no longer an
issue.
“This is such a non-story,” Will
Haas wrote.
“I can't see that 'coming out' will
make any difference,” A-Brit-in-Mexico wrote. “It didn't for
Elton John in the 70s. People still bought his recordings knowing he
was gay.”