MEXICO CITY -Ricky Martin defended the right of pop stars to come out of the closet, saying he felt solidarity with Christian Chavez of Mexican band RBD, who recently said publicly that he is gay.

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"Life is too short to live closed up, guarding what you say," said Martin — whose sexual orientation has been the subject of speculation — in an interview with The Associated Press. Christian "has to be free in many aspects. I wish him much strength."

Martin, who was named person of the year in 2006 by the Latin Recording Academy, has hits including "Livin' la Vida Loca" and "Shake Your Bon-Bon."

He said his nonprofit Ricky Martin Foundation inspires him in his songwriting. One of the foundation's programs, People for Children, works toward the elimination of human trafficking, especially trafficking of children.

"When you start to work with social problems, it gets the attention of the media and people think it's a farce," the 35-year-old singer said. "It's a spiritual search. The philanthropic work helps me write music and the music helps me in the philanthropic work."

Martin said it was great that more celebrities are working with charities.

"If this is a fashion, then I hope a lot more fashions like this come along."

He will tour the U.S. in April and May.

RBD, which spun off Mexico's wildly popular soap opera, "Rebelde," has achieved success throughout Latin America and among Spanish speakers in the United States.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/a...cky_martin

Has he come out yet?

Now, that's ironic.

I'm glad that I'm living in a time when the stigma of homosexuality is starting to erode and fall away. Its just amazing to see the younger generation being all out and proud and being who they are instead of cowering in the corner and doing what the "handlers" tell them too.

ThreadBare said:

bboy87 said:

Its just a matter of time.

bboy87 said:

Seriously I love "She Bangs" but everytime I hear it, or see him on TV, I'm wondering, "Has he come out yet?"

I remember when he did his Behind The Music, he wouldn't let them ask him about his sexuality or something - which was weird.

Not because of what it was (gay or straight) but more because, I don't think sexuality is one of the hot topics of those shows. (It is more about rise to fame, success years, drug use, fall from fame, current content state minus drugs.) So for him to make a point, of, I don't want to discuss this, it makes people start asking, "Why?" Makes ya wonder if the dude is into like sex with animals or something.

That show got really lame-o towards the end..interviewing people like Backstreet Boys and Kid Rock.
[Edited 3/31/07 11:54am]
[Edited 3/31/07 11:55am]

I have my tickets for his May 15th show in Phoenix. All I can say is, gay or straight, he can shake his bon-bon all he wants...
I'm looking forward to it!

At the risk of sounding extremely naive... why are you guys so sure he's gay?

coolcat said:

I guess nobody does, but i seriously can't picture him in a relationship with a woman. Has he had a romantic relationship with a woman?

Maybe he's asexual like Mariah.

Ricky is suprised to see it's not a man on the other side of the glory hole

Cool...

BlaqueKnight said:

Sho'nuff. His day is coming.

I dont get the empathis on his sexuality. I mean, could he be gay? Maybe he is, maybe he isnt. It doesnt really matter. What matters is that he's an excellent entertainer. His appeal in the US pop market may have gone down, but what separates him from others is that he is a really dedicated latin fanbase. He's coming to Laredo(my hometown) on May 11, and I'm definitely there.

So really, if he's gay, good for him. If he's not, good for him. It's a private matter of his, and it's genius that he refuses to discuss his sexuality. Kinda sets an example

i think he's trying to pave the way for himself

He's cute as shit, that's all I really care about

Worst excuse for a musical artist EVER.

Moonbeam said:

I think that title belongs to Usher

JasonStar said:

he says, w/ a Milli VaFuckingNilli avatar

CalhounSq said:

CalhounSq you know it's true
Ooo Ooo Ooo Usher equals doo doo.

He should come on out himself because someone as fine as he is shouldn't be wasted on women.

vainandy said:

amen, brother !

vainandy said:

PREACH!!!!! Come home Ricky!!!!!

vainandy said:

CalhounSq said:

sad but true