Clay Aiken to reveal he is gay

[meegbear]

After years of dodging questions, former "American Idol" singer Clay Aiken will acknowledge he is a gay man in an interview with People magazine set to run on its Web site Wednesday, according to media reports.

Celebrity site Perezhilton.com on Tuesday published a photo of the cover of People magazine's upcoming issue on which Aiken cradles his new son, Parker Foster Aiken, in his arms.

The caption reads "Yes, I'm Gay," and underneath is a quote from Aiken on his decision to come out of the closet that says: "I cannot raise a child to lie or to hide things."

In August this year, Aiken's friend, music producer Jaymes Foster, gave birth to the baby fathered by Aiken.

A spokeswoman for People would neither confirm nor deny that Aiken told the magazine he is gay. But the magazine issued a statement saying, "We can confirm that Clay Aiken and his son appear on the next cover of People. For the complete story, visit people.com at 7 a.m. (EDT Wednesday) (1100 GMT) morning."

<snip>

http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSTRE48N04S20080924

And in other news, the sun rose in the east, the Pope acknowledged his belief in Catholicism and an ursine creature defecated in a heavily treed area.

[MichaelHarris]

1. To who,

some forgotten WWII Japanese soldiers on a forgotten island?

[unsavedtrash]

5. you made me laugh so hard I woke up my roommate!

She went to bed at 4am and is not amused with me.

:rofl:

[tekisui]

2. I'm shocked!

Really, I am happy for him. It's a shame on our society he had to (poorly) hide who he is for so long.

[blueknight]

3. and

the sky is blue!

[terrya]

4. I know...."well, duh".

I know people have that attitude. Kind of like reading about Richard Simmons coming out.

But I'm glad Clay Aiken is coming out. When more gay and lesbian show business perfomers come out, the easier it is for others to do so.

[moose65]

6. It's on the web site now

There was no need to be so coy, People magazine!

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20228488,00.html

[Fearless]

7. Yes...

I'd be more surprised if he wasn't.

[dsc]

8. My dog got an attack of the vapors upon hearing the news

He hasn't been the same since.

[swimmernsecretsea]

9. Poor thing.

Apparently, the Pope shits in the woods and the Bear is Catholic.

I know I've defended closeted celebrities before, but this guy was so good at dodging questions I began to think he should be McCain's running mate. No sympathy for this mofo. Sorry. Fresh out.

[Duncan Grant]

10. So I went to a Clay Aiken fan site to see the response of his fans.

One could write all I know about Clay Aiken on a postage stamp -- still, I find these celebrity coming out stories interesting. Here are a few fan posts from "The Clayboard":

This is a gut wrenching day for The ClayNation. Somebody wake me up, I hope its a dream.

After a sleepless night, I am back reading everyone's posts. "I love the Claymates!" They
all make sooo much sense. Me, right now, not so much. I have worked with many gays,
the nature of the hairdressing business. And Clay always fit the profile. They all could
write his story, except their not famous. I don't think he meant to lie, he was confused, not
about his preference, but, everyone was pulling him, and telling him how to handle everything.
Then it got beyond him, it was too late to try to fix things with the fans. We all worshipped him.
I will be thudding a little softer now, until I sort things out in my OWN mind. I still love him,
how can you not by a single admission? Its been 5 years, he is a part of me now.
LET ME SAY THAT I'M STILL A FAN OF HIS VOICE.....
NOT SO MUCH A FAN OF HIS....CHOICE....

II wish him well and hope he gets some peace of mind now BUT I feel he lied to everyone-especially us fans. He should have just said so years ago. I feel like we were "used". I still love to hear him sing but I also feel he has now become like a Michael Jackson and it's a bit too weird! He isn't just the plain ordinary person with the values he first stood for.-but it's just my opinion.

IThis has to have been a difficult decision for Clay - particularly considering the lies and the crap that the haters have thrown at him for the last 2 1/2 years. What should be a very private matter has become all too public and hateful.

And this has to be a particularly difficult day as he waits to see what we will do, think, feel and say.

Clay is still the same wonderful human being he has always been. This changes nothing for me.

Love you Clay.... always and forever. And I am soooo proud of you !!

I have been a CLay fan from the start and a member of this board since 2004. I know many of you from my Clay travels and have enjoyed your company and influence in my life immensely. I felt I owed you my goodbye though lately I had not posted much. Here are my feelings. .....


I love Clay with all my heart and that will never change. I feel nothing but love. However, I am deeply saddened. I know one thing is that I do not hate him. I never will. I will support him but the support I will give til the day I die is that of a different kind. Like Clay, I need to be honest and true to myself. I will support him in prayer but I can't continue to be a fan at this time. I do not agree with his belief about homosexuality or by what I believe to be his choice. Many of you may disagree with me and even rail at me. Your right and I understand. I respect that this has had to be very difficult for him and actually understand why he hid it all even for as long as he did.
However, how I feel and what am I going to do now.....
I am grieving deeply as I will miss that glorious gift of God that is Clay, his voice, his love, his passion. I will miss the fandom. The fun. The comaraderie. I will miss him and I will miss all of you. This tears me apart and pains me greatly. This is one of the most difficult days of my life. I am in deep sorrow that I have to walk away like this now. But I can't stay and live a lie myself, no matter what. No matter how much I love his voice and many things about him. No matter how much I want the experience of being a fan in many ways. I have to do what I believe is right. And no matter how painful that is.
I have given much of the last 5 years to Clay. I have met him 3 times: Book signing, the tour bus and my M&G. I have seen him perform live almost 100 times. I have supported him at other appearances even when he was not singing. I have gone to gala's. I have contributed to UNICEF and the Bubel Aiken Foundation in money and time. I have promoted and defended the man to the hilt in many ways. All choices. My choices. Blessings have been mine the whole time. Though looking back perhaps I gave too much of my life and there has been a down side to my fandom. I have put CLay before God, my husband and my children and friends, often times. But again that was my choice and I believe no good intention, effort, or relationship was a waste. All comes together for the good.

I hope the best for Clay all his life.

I love him and I love you all

With this I say goodbye to Clay and this fanhood

Margaret Meeuwen
aka
Marge

There seem to be a fair amount of supportive posts. And all this goes on for 47 pages! :wow: Who knew? Not me.

[Athelwulf]

15. And to think I had a low opinion of Aiken fanatics BEFORE reading that.

I'm not talking about people who simply like or love his music, but rather the crazy fans that "have put Clay before God, my husband and my children and friends" and would love to have his babies. Nothing against them or Aiken personally. I still respect them as human beings and all. I just don't like pop culture much, nor the American Idol craze or Clay Aiken "cult of personality" in particular. I say this as a gay man, just to make that clear.

These quotes you have pulled up have made my opinion of these weirdos sink lower. For example, what the fuck is wrong with this Marge character?

I am grieving deeply as I will miss that glorious gift of God that is Clay, his voice, his love, his passion. I will miss the fandom. The fun. The comaraderie. I will miss him and I will miss all of you. This tears me apart and pains me greatly. This is one of the most difficult days of my life. I am in deep sorrow that I have to walk away like this now. But I can't stay and live a lie myself, no matter what. No matter how much I love his voice and many things about him. No matter how much I want the experience of being a fan in many ways. I have to do what I believe is right. And no matter how painful that is.

She's acting like Clay just fucking died. Is she that fickle? Is her hate for gay people that deep? She makes me sick.

II wish him well and hope he gets some peace of mind now BUT I feel he lied to everyone-especially us fans. He should have just said so years ago.

Yes, he should have ignored his instincts years ago that told him coming out might literally put his life at risk. How silly of him to not feel totally safe with saying he's gay in a country that's not as friendly to gay people as it should be! Shame on him for not feeling totally accepted for who he is!

This is a gut wrenching day for The ClayNation. Somebody wake me up, I hope its a dream.

LET ME SAY THAT I'M STILL A FAN OF HIS VOICE.....
NOT SO MUCH A FAN OF HIS....CHOICE...

And you two... Just... Fuck you.

Fickle fucks, the lot of them.

[Karl_Bonner_1982]

11. Favorite will be when a big-name rapper comes out NT

[Toasterlad]

12. Also Gay: Paul Lynde. I Know. I'm As Shocked As You.

[Chovexani]

13. Oh my god, my world is falling apart

Next thing, someone will say Ricky Martin's gay.

(Seriously, who the fuck didn't know except for those batshit insane fundie Claymates? His closet doors were made of glass.)

[MullenBank]

14. THIS JUST IN.....

water wet. poor people got no money. hippies remain odoriferous.