livin' la vida homo

the grass is green. the sky is blue. ricky martin is gay.

the latin heartthrob has finally publicly come out of the closet. he announced on his website that he is a "fortunate homosexual man." ricky, we welcome you with open arms.

my crush on ricky martin goes back to my freshman year of college. he was a new american sensation, many years after his menudo days. truth be told, i was in love with him. aside from his striking looks, i loved his music. i even mumbled and faked my way through his spanish albums. for my 20th birthday, my mom bought ricky martin concert tickets for me and three of my friends. we made the trek to cincinnati to see him in all his tight-leather-panted glory.

while it later became obvious that ricky was living his life behind closed closet doors, i still respected him for wanting to maintain a personal life. i remember one particular interview with barbara walters, when she did everything BUT ask him if he was gay. he answered in a very honest way, at the time. he never lied, he just wasn't ready to open up his personal life to the world.

he's now the father to two adorable boys. from articles i've read and pictures i've seen, these two little ones are his life. what more could anyone ask for other than to be happy. in his own words:

What will happen from now on? It doesn't matter. I can only focus on what's happening to me in this moment. The word "happiness" takes on a new meaning for me as of today. It has been a very intense process. Every word that I write in this letter is born out of love, acceptance, detachment and real contentment. Writing this is a solid step towards my inner peace and vital part of my evolution.

I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am.