UPDATE: Clay Aiken Reveals He's Gay
"It was the first decision I made as a father," Clay Aiken says about coming out as a gay man in the new issue of People. "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."
Clay makes the revelation in the next edition of the magazine, which hits stands this Friday. He will be pictured with his newborn son, Parker, and talk about the importance of being truthful regarding his sexuality.
"Whether it be having a child out of wedlock, or whether it be simply being a homosexual, it's going to be a lot," he says regarding the reactions of his fans. Still, he says his fans "know that I've never intended to lie to anybody at all. ... But if they leave, I don't want them to leave hating me."
The singer also reveals that he told him mom about four years ago, after an emotional parting with his brother who was shipping off to Iraq.
"I started crying in the car," he says. "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."
His mom "started crying. She was obviously somewhat stunned. But she was very supportive and very comforting." Even now, Clay admits, "She still struggles with things quite a bit, but she's come a long way."
He is scheduled to appear in an already-taped interview about this headline-grabbing revelation with ABC News' Diane Sawyer, with promos beginning to run Wednesday morning, and the interview running on "Good Morning America" starting Thursday.
Clay, who has long deflected questions about his sexuality, recently welcomed his infant son with his longtime female friend Jaymes Foster. The baby was conceived via in-vitro fertilization and was born in August.
Katie Holmes in "All My Sons"
Josh Hartnett in "Rain Man"
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