Clay Aiken Comes Out
Clay Aiken, Southern gentleman and American Idol born crooner, revealed that he is gay in an upcoming story for People magazine.
"Yes, I'm gay," boasts the pull-out quote.
"It was the first decision I made as a father," Aiken told People, according to E! Online. "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."
Aiken's sexuality came under scrutiny when he fathered a child with Jaymes Foster, sister of music producer David Foster. Parker Foster Aiken was born August 8.
Aiken stressed in the interview that he felt it was necessary for him to step up and reveal what everybody kind of already assumed about him for Parker's sake, so his son can be raised in an atmosphere that is "accepting and allowing him to be happy."
"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," said Aiken to People, according to E! Online.
Aiken admitted to telling his mom about his sexuality four years ago when they accompanied his younger brother, Brett, to camp Lejeune before Brett deployed to Iraq, according to the article.
"I started crying in the car," Aiken said. "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."
And while it took some time, he said his mom eventually accepted her son's sexuality.
"She started crying. She was obviously somewhat stunned. But she was very supportive and very comforting," Aiken said to People, according to E! Online. "She still struggles with things quite a bit, but she's come a long way."
Aiken acknowledges that the revelation may be difficult for some of his fans. According to People, while reprising his role as Sir Robin on Broadway in Monty Python's Spamalot last week, Aiken said that he hopes his fans know he "never intended to lie to anybody at all. But if they leave, I don't want them to leave hating me."