Ricky Martin says he is proud to be a gay

Ricky Martin has revealed what a lot of people thought they already knew: he’s gay. The singer has decided to come out while working on his autobiography, and wrote on his blog yesterday that he was finally proud to declare himself “a fortunate homosexual man”. He said:

“Because all this advice came from people who I love dearly, I decided to move on with my life not sharing with the world my entire truth. Allowing myself to be seduced by fear and insecurity became a self-fulfilling prophecy of sabotage. Today I take full responsibility for my decisions and my actions … Enough is enough. This has to change. This was not supposed to happen five or 10 years ago, it is supposed to happen now. Today is my day, this is my time, and this is my moment.”

Martin, who has sold more than 60 million albums, said in a statement on his website he was “proud to say” he was “a fortunate homosexual man”.

Martin’s biggest hit is Livin’ La Vida Local–a 1999 single that reached number one in more than 20 countries.

The singer, who began his career in the 1980s with Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, also had hits with She Bangs and Shake Your Bon Bon.

Martin, who fathered two children with a surrogate mother two years ago, said his decision to write his memoirs had helped him to free “things that were too heavy to keep inside”.

“Not sharing with the world my entire truth” about his sexuality, he continued, had become “a self-fulfilling prophecy of sabotage”.

Becoming a father, he went on, had convinced him “enough was enough” and that things “had to change”.

“To keep living as I did… would be to indirectly diminish the glow that my kids were born with,” he said in a posting written in both English and Spanish.

Martin had previously remained tight-lipped about his sexual orientation, refusing to answer interviewer Barbara Walters when she raised the topic in 2000.