The Outing of the Year

Clay Aiken has done what I thought he’d never do, the season two American Idol alum has come clean about being a gay man. Raise your hand, if you had to pick your jaw up off the floor after seeing this cover (raising my hand). After years of being outed by the public, Clay has exited the closet via People magazine. He is featured on the cover with his baby boy.
Here is a sneak peek of the interview.

His reason for coming out:
“It was the first decision I made as a father. I cannot raise a child to lie or to hide things. I wasn’t raised that way, and I’m not going to raise a child to do that.” (I can totally respect that)

What his fans will think:
“Whether it be having a child out of wedlock, or whether it be simply being a homosexual(what is this 1982, who says homosexual these days) it’s going to be a lot. I’ve never intended to lie to anybody at all. … But if they leave, I don’t want them to leave hating me.”

Coming out to his mother:
“It was dark. I was sitting there, thinking to myself. I don’t know why I started thinking about it … I just started bawling. She made me pull over the car and it just came out. She started crying. She was obviously somewhat stunned.(Has she met you?) But she was very supportive and very comforting. She still struggles with things quite a bit, but she’s come a long way.”

On his sons sexuality:
“I have no idea if he’ll be gay or straight. It’s not something I’ll have anything to do with, or that he’ll have anything to do with. It’s already probably up inside the code there … No matter what the situation you’re in, if you’re raised in a loving environment, that’s the most important thing.”

Kudos to Clay for coming out on his own terms. I think he will find that the more honest you are about yourself; the less people will have to say about you. Of course there is always his music we can make fun of, which makes it a win win situation.

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