Clay Aiken Was Never in the Closet

Pop singer Clay Aiken says, "There was this misconception that I was not out," in an interview with The Georgia Voice.

While promoting his Tried and True tour, Aiken, who officially admitted he was gay in People magazine in 2008, was asked about the obligation of gay performers to come out. "I was in Spamalot and everyone knew, but I don't necessarily want to sit at a table with strangers and tell them," he said. "When you come out, you do it with people you are comfortable with."

The singer says that while his coming-out may have surprised a few people, it had no adverse effect on his career.

"I definitely do see the liberation and understand the rationalization of people wanting me to be out," he says. "On the other hand, I wouldn't say that coming out has made me happier because that implies I was not happy before and I was."

The Voice writes that Aiken is now comfortable discussing being gay and mentions that he even went to D.C. to speak at a Capitol Hill briefing on antigay bullying at the end of last year.