Clay Aiken has finally said the words: "Yes, I'm Gay." The 29-year-old former "American Idol" runner-up says his newborn son, conceived by in-vitro fertilization with friend and producer Jaymes Foster, was the reason he decided he could no longer hide his homosexuality from the world.
"It was the first decision I made as a father," Aiken told People magazine. "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, who rose to fame on "Idol" in 2003, has long been subject of rumors and tabloid fodder that he was gay, but usually refused to acknowledge them. In an interview with The Associated Press two years ago, he said of the talk: "I don't really feel like I have anybody to answer to but myself and God and the people I love."
Aiken said he only told his family that he was gay four years ago. He recalled a tearful discussion with his mother in a car after dropping off his brother, who was being sent to Iraq, at a military base.
"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," he said. "She started crying. She was obviously somewhat stunned. But she was very supportive and very comforting."
Aiken said his mother "still struggles with things quite a bit, but she's come a long way."
