So who in the gay world ISN'T talking about Ricky Martin?

Wow, he finally came out. In other news, water is wet, oranges are orange and Monsters get you high. (Well, they certainly get ME high.)

I read his coming-out declaration on the Huffington Post. (Article here.) In seven paragraphs he managed to inspire and uplift me, and hundreds of thousands of other gay men; you don't need to hide in the closet anymore, guys! If I idolized Ricky Martin, I was still closeted and I received this news, it would more than likely give me the push I needed to come out. Despite what certain members of the gay community may say, what Ricky Martin did was a brave thing.

I came out in early 2006; I remember it like it was yesterday. I was with a group of my old high-school friends, and one of them identified as bisexual; she confided in all of us that she was bi.

"What would you guys say if I told you I'm bi?" I remember her saying; this gave me the impetus I needed to say, "What would you guys say if I told you I'm gay?" I still remember the laughter of all my friends; "I knew it!" one of them shouted in sardonic glee, and the others just chuckled and looked uncomfortable. I then informed him that I was serious, and all the conversation stopped dead. "Well, that's okay man," one of them finally said, breaking the uneasy silence. I looked around, and saw what I had never expected to see, in all my discomfort; seven faces lit up with happiness, reflecting my true inner feelings. It was as if they understood what it had taken for me to say it; for all I knew, they'd known all along. All of them, with the exception of my bisexual friend, were straight, but I felt so supported and effervescent with joy that it turned out to be one of the best nights of my life.

Now, this experience has very little to do with Ricky Martin's publicized coming out, but there is something we have in common; having lived in a small town my whole life, I had been taught from an early age that it was not okay to be gay, and that fags got hurt, much like how I'm sure Ricky Martin had been taught the same having grown up in Puerto Rico. The courage it took to come out to my small group of friends in a small hick town dimly mirrors the courage Ricky Martin has to reveal a vital part of himself to everyone. While I may not be opening myself up to judgement from the entire globe, it still takes a brave heart to look into the eyes of the oh-so-judgemental world and scream that yes, you're gay, and yes, you're proud.