Ricky Martin and Habitat Help Haiti

WE GUYS HIS WONDERFUL INICIATIVE AND HEART TO HELP THE VICTIMS OF HAITI. STOP JUDGING OR HAITY, LET THE GUY TO COME OUT AT HIS OWN TERM, WHEN HE BE READY, IS HIS PERSONAL LIFE, NO YOURS.

I never even liked Ricky Martin's music or persona. I think he said some smart things in interviews in the past. Most importantly though I think that the gay "community" should stop pointing their fingers at "shameful closet cases". There was a time when Coming Out was important for changing society's perception of what gay people are. But it's 2010 - we've moved beyond that. How can we reach the social perception that Homosexuality is something normal, no big deal when we continue to insist that every possibly gay celebrity should make a big "I confess"-speech? That's so 1960's. How can you call someone something as mean and cold-hearted as "shameful closet case". Not everyone is loud and proud in their sexuality - some people in the community still have to learn to accept that after all these years.

Ricky Martin is a Puerto Rican who sings more in Spanish than in English. By American definitions of that is and is not White, he is not White. White folks do not consider Hispanics to be White. When you hear him speak it is also clear that English is his second langauge. Although some in the Latino/Chicano communities would label some Hispanics as White, he would not be considered White by most White people. I love it when LGBTQI folks want to pretend that Queer Whites are not generally racist, when many people of color will say that we frequently are at least unconsciously racist if not also bigotted.

Ricky Martin is NOT a person of color, he is a WHITE Hispanic and he sings in English. So let's not play the poor persecuted minority card. Booooring.

MarkM .....great comments.

s a person of color with a career, if hi is Gay or Bi, I think Ricky is wise to remain in the closet. Until the LGBTQI community is a less racist (and sexist) place, and begins to be welcoming to Queer people of color, my advice to Ricky and other celebrities who are people of color is to take good care of their closets, because they are better places for people of color than is the LGBTQI community.

Closet cases teach shame to our gay teens. Shame on THEM! But Ricky isn't relevant to anyone under, say, 35 or so. It would have meant something when he was still making music. habitat for humanity DOES NOT SERVE THE GLBT community!! THEY DEFINE FAMILY in traditional Christian terms. So not only is Ricky a shameful closet case, he supports an organization that discriminates against us.

This whole "You have to confess" - mentality is getting on my nerves. We as gay people should understand that this pressure to come out has been put upon us by the dominant belief system - and we follow the homophobic agenda sheepishly when we join the "Come out!"-choir unreflected. As long as the same pressure is not put upon straight people ("Confess you're straight!") we should look at the Coming Out-ideology carefully. No gay person should be forced to admit that he or she is gay in a way that resembles committing a crime. But that's still the way it is in society - it's like saying "I'm guilty!", hoping for forgiveness. It's a degrading concept. I think Ricky sees it like that too and that's why he refuses to give in to those shrill voices. Not coming out is also a statement pro personal freedom. And: Ricky is not the enemy nor part of the problem. Can't we just embrace him as part of the community of loving human beings? When there's not a crime, there's nothing to confess.

His career wouldn't suffer at this point by coming out, but has it occured to anyone that maybe he stays in the closet out of the completely rational desire to keep his private life private? Our assumptions about his orientation are the sole reason media outlets, such as the Advocate, continue to moniter the things he does (even though he hasn't been a major public figure in a decade or so.) Privacy is something that most of us take for granted and even straight celebrities have had very public and/or physical disputes with the Papparazi and the media over the issue of privacy. Michael Jackson is a prime example of what effects life in the limelight can have on a person. As far as his humanitarian work goes, if I had the capital and the name recognition he does I would take advantage of the postitive attention it could bring too. Do we speculate over Bono everytime he feeds a country? Can't get any gayer than a team of Ricky, Ellen, Adam, and Patti. But who cares? You go girl.

No person is born in a "closet", it's unfortunate that gay people carry this burden. Society perceives that everyone is straight until you announce that you are not. The problem is not that gay people are cowards or ashamed, it's that there is a preconcieved perception by the bulk of society. Just be who you are and do not make assumptions about eachother, seems really easy. I never thought Ricky Martin or Clay Ailen were straight to begin with, as I'm sure most people would agree.