Christian Chavez of Mexican Pop Group RBD Comes Out

Christian Chavez, 23, of Mexican pop group RBD, announced Thursday on the group's website, www.grupo-rbd.com, that he is gay.

He says the recent release of compromising photos of him pushed him to come out. He wrote: "Although I'm scared and filled with uncertainty, I know that I can rely on the support of my fans, their love is bigger than all of this. I ask them from the bottom of my heart not to judge me for being honest and to feel proud of who they are and never make the same mistake I did."

RBD is a Latin Grammy-nominated group that has sold over 9.5 million albums worldwide since its January 2005 debut. It has had huge success in Latin America, and band members are currently working on a sitcom, RBD: La Familia.