Ricky Martin: I Am a “Homosexual”

Ricky Martin has officially outed himself.

The "Livin' La Vida Loca" singer admitted he is a "homosexual" on his Web site Monday, posting in a long entry written in both Spanish and English that he has long strugged with admitting the "truth" to himself and his fans.

"I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man," Martin wrote, according to the English translation posted on his Web site.

"I am very blessed to be who I am," he wrote.

Martin, the Puerto Rican pop singer who shot to fame as part of the Latin boy band Menudo, long-suffered rumors of homosexuality during his career atop the charts. He never flat-out denied he was a gay man, but continually skirted questions about his personal life.

Martin said in the post that the process of writing his memoirs helped him realize he had to come out -- and admit the truth to the world.

"From the moment I wrote the first phrase I was sure the book was the tool that was going to help me free myself from things I was carrying within me for a long time. Things that were too heavy for me to keep inside," Martin wrote.

"These years in silence and reflection made me stronger and reminded me that acceptance has to come from within and that this kind of truth gives me the power to conquer emotions I didn't even know existed," he wrote.

Martin became the father of twins in August 2008, delivered by a surrogate.

He admitted in the post that having the twin boys also pushed him to come out of the closet.

"This is just what I need especially now that I am the father of two beautiful boys that are so full of light and who with their outlook teach me new things every day," he wrote. "To keep living as I did up until today would be to indirectly dimish the glow that my kids were born with.

"Enough is enough. This has to change," he wrote.

Martin's last English original album release was "Life," put out in 2005. In 2008, a Martin compilation album, "Ricky Martin 17," was released.

He was twice named one of People magazine's Most Beautiful People, in 2000 and 2006.

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