Oct 02 2008
Clay Aiken Coming Out: Overblown Story
Clay Aiken’s revelation in a recent People magazine article that he’s gay is garnering too much attention. Aiken is hardly the first celebrity to come out after some time in the public eye. He won’t be the last. Gay men and women are dealing with the potential ramifications of coming out as opposed to staying in the closet each day.
Aiken said he wanted to be honest now that he’s a father. His friend and he will raise their son. The arrangement will not be traditional but the standard mother-and-father-with-children household is now a statistical minority.
People will not be more likely to now follow in Aiken’s footsteps nor will they decide to avoid the path he took. Aiken would probably be the first to say he doesn’t have that much influence within society. His devoted fans—the Claymates—will stay loyal to him. They likely knew he was gay before the official announcement. Kathy Griffin has joked about Aiken’s sexual orientation for years in her standup routines. She’s referred to him as “Clay Gay-ken.” The bigger surprise is that he is now a dad. To use a cliché, the news has been an “open secret” for a long time.
Speaking of long time, it’s been more than five years since he was the runner-up to Ruben Studdard on American Idol’s second season. He has settled into a level of stature within the entertainment industry. Most Americans have known about him since 2003. They know about his music and his Broadway turn in Spamalot. At this point, they either like his work or they don’t. His sexuality won’t have any bearing on his future endeavors. As soon as the next celebrity announces he or she is homosexual, the fervor about Clay Aiken will subside. He’ll undoubtedly be the happiest one when that happens.
I look forward to the day when someone announcing that they are gay is not a cover story.
I always liked Clay Aiken’s voice. I wish him well.
I took forward to the day when the media stops hounding people to come out of the closet and when people of all sexual orientations stop talking about it.
It’s called a private life for a reason. Let’s put it back to private status where it belongs.
I find it disgusting that the media has hounded this man to come out for 5 years and when he does, by his own choice, the media now scoffs that it was unnecessary and wonders why its such a big deal.
Its a wonder that he can remain so gracious and dignified in spite of the horrible treatment he received then and now.
I don’t understand the ones who feel Clay is somehow different now and not the man he seemed to be.
As far as I am concerned, with all the good humanitarian work Clay has done and the joy he has brought to so many of his fans just by being himself, nothing has changed. In my opinion, Clay has not only talked the talk but he has walked the walk too. He has used his celebrity status as a tool to help the less fortunate. Clay is still the man he always was and his private life is his own business. How sad that something like this has to be so overblown. In my opinion, Clay is still a good example for anyone to follow and in my eyes, he is still the Measure of a Man. I can only hope that those who have feelings otherwise will not pass these prejudices down to their children and pray for the day that everyone is accepting of those who may have a different lifestyle, but are still respected as a fellow human being.