The far right nutcase Cardinal Luis Aponte Martinez of San Juan has blasted Ricky Martin for "promoting his homosexuality," but Martin seems un-intimidated and continues to talk about the benefits of being officially out of the closet and having moved on to self-acceptance and a rejection of the religious based self-loathing that too often goes with life in the closet. As long time readers of this blog know full well, my coming out journey was a nightmare in many ways. From the e-mails and discussions I get from readers, I am hardly alone in this experience. I applaud Ricky Martin speaking out about the liberating aspects of coming out and saying "No" to the religious bullshit that is used to stigmatize gays as he recently did on the Tonight Show speaking with Jay Leno. No one benefits long term living in the closet be it to satisfy parents or a simple case of yielding to church or perceived societal pressures. Selling one's soul is never a positive thing. Metro Weekly looks at Martin's conversation with Jay Leno. Here are some highlights:*
It was a lot of struggle. And if you add to that, let's call it culture, religion, society, what people say -- you know, what I was feeling what I have in my mind was evil.
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''And I'm very lucky today to say that I'm gay, and I love it. And I'm very happy, and that's it! ... A lot of people say, 'Yeah, what's new? We knew that.' But it was about what I was feeling and my own fears, and my struggles. And I know that there's a lot of people out there, men and women, that are struggling with that.... Everybody has to go through their own spiritual journey.... I just tell people to take care of themselves and focus on dignity and self esteem and look at yourself in the mirror and say, 'I love you.'"
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Latin and pop music singer Ricky Martin talking with Jay Leno on The Tonight Show, Tuesday, May 3. He said that the media response has been amazing since his coming out, and that his concerts are currently selling out.
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Watch the video:
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