After more than a decade of denying his sexuality amid speculation, Latin pop star Ricky Martin acknowledged in a post on his website on March 29, 2010, what the world had long suspected: he’s gay. “I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am,” he wrote. Months later, on Oprah’s couch, the 38-year-old Martin said it was the birth of his twin sons, by surrogate, that had inspired him to be open about his sexuality. “What am I going to teach them, how to lie?” he said. After he came out, Martin said, he was relieved. “I felt liberated,” he told Oprah. “I felt I could finally say that I love myself completely.” The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation issued a statement shortly after Martin’s announcement. “When someone like Ricky Martin comes out, hundreds of millions of people now have a cultural connection with an artist, celebrity and, perhaps most importantly, a father who happens to be gay,” the statement read. “His decision to model this kind of openness and honestly can lead to greater acceptance for countless gay people in the U.S., in Latin America and worldwide.”
Anderson Cooper Comes Out: How Other Celebrities Did It
Some send e-mails. Some appear on magazine covers. Here's how 10 other celebrities shared their sexuality with their fans