QandAs: Buzz

What prompted Clay Aiken to come out of the closet?

Answer:
Singer Clay Aiken recently acknowledged what

the public had long suspected - that he is a gay man. In an exclusive interview in September 2008 with People magazine, the 29-year-old said the birth of his son, Parker, prompted his decision to come out.

"It was the first decision I made as a father," Aiken, 29, told People. "I cannot raise a child to lie or to hide things. I wasn't raised that way, and I'm not going to raise a child to do that."

Clay Aiken first came to national prominence in 2003 as a contestant and finalist for season two of the television program American Idol.

After a surrogate gave birth Aug. 8 to a son conceived via in vitro fertilization, Clay Aiken decided to follow through on the promise he made to himself as a new dad.

Speculation about Aiken's sexuality was stirred for years by tabloid reports and monologues by comedians such as Kathy Griffin, who frequently referred to the pop singer as "Gayken."


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