Pop star Ricky Martin explained why he came out in 2010 at the age of 38. Before that, he had avoided even non-romantic relationships with men to prevent fans from realizing he is gay.
Following the birth of his sons Matteo and Valentino, his father had a serious conversation with the singer and shared something important.
Martin’s dad, who is a psychologist, had a heartfelt discussion with him about the role of parents with their children and pointed out a tough truth: if he stayed in the closet, he would be asking his children to keep up the pretense.
“Rick, you need to come out,” his father advised him. “What are you going to teach your kids, to lie?”
However, Martin’s management team was not as supportive, telling him, ‘You don’t need to share, everyone knows around you, you don’t have to tell the world – your friends know, your family knows, why do you need to stand in front of the camera and talk about it?'”
“They didn’t understand the importance of it,” Martin said during the Andy Cohen Live Sirius XM show. “Now I see it. I understood before they did how important it is, not only for me, but to be a spokesperson.”
“I wish I could come out 20 times. It felt amazing. I started crying like a baby.”
