![[e-mail]](http://wwwcache.wral.com/presentation/v2/images/header/email-15x10.gif){kind=small}
Subscribe
![[e-mail]](http://wwwcache.wral.com/presentation/v1/images/icon_email-story.gif){kind=icon}
Get News Alerts to your Email & Cell Phone
![[search]](http://wwwcache.wral.com/presentation/v1/images/icons/16x12/search-form-icon.gif){kind=icon}
Site Search
Raleigh, N.C. — After years of rumors swirling about his sexuality, Raleigh native Clay Aiken is confirming that he is gay.
The cover of the upcoming issue of People magazine shows Aiken holding his infant son, Parker Foster Aiken, with the headline: "Yes, I'm Gay."
Parker was conceived via in vitro fertilization with Aiken’s best friend Jaymes Foster, according to People. Foster gave birth to Parker on Aug. 8 at a North Carolina hospital.
The magazine has an interview with Aiken, 29, and confirmed Tuesday that he was on the cover. An excerpt of the article was released Wednesday morning on People.com.
"It was the first decision I made as a father," Aiken told the magazine. "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."
He also recalls how he told his mother, Faye, the news.
"I started crying in the car," he told the magazine. "It was dark. I was sitting there, thinking to myself. I don't know why I started thinking about it ... I just started bawling. She made me pull over the car and it just came out."
Aiken, who gained fame as the runner-up on Fox's "American Idol" in 2003, rarely addressed the frequent rumors about his sexuality.
In an interview with The Associated Press two years ago, he said: "I don't really feel like I have anybody to answer to but myself and God and the people I love."
The multi-platinum singer recently released the CD "On My Way Here" and made his Broadway debut this spring as "Sir Robin" in "Monty Python's Spamalot."
During his "American Idol" run, Aiken gained a legion of fans who refer to themselves as "Claymates."
WRAL.com welcomes your comments on this story. All comments are moderated prior to publication based on our posting guidelines. Please review them prior to posting and if your message is not approved.
This story is closed for comments. Comments on WRAL.com news stories are accepted and moderated between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.
How very Christian of you.
September 25, 2008 8:09 p.m.
Clay may be hailed over this by many in his fanbase, by Hollywood, and the media, but he isn't being hailed by his Creator.
(Lev. 20:13) (Rom. 1:24-28)
September 25, 2008 2:17 p.m.
On the contrary, my family and I are devastated by the revelation of his perversive lifestyle.
We have supported Clay with everything we had since AI... that support has now ended.
Like so many of his fans, I have invested over five years of promoting him in every way I knew how, especially to young people, including my three young nephews and four teenage nieces. But he presented himself as someone that he is the very opposite of.
Every day families across this country are bombarded with this so-called alternative lifestyle being shoved down our throats... on television, in music, and in print, and now Clay's has become a poster boy of its endorsement.
But it will forever be abnormal, perverse, and a subject of ridicule.
My heart breaks for little Parker, and for kids everywhere, who have to grow up and see such twisted and unnatural relationships.
Clay may be hailed by the majority of his fanbase, as well as the
September 25, 2008 1:26 p.m.
September 24, 2008 9:24 p.m.
"This is NEWS??? Please report something noteworthy. The economy is crumbling and this is what gets reported? Gossip column or news website?"
"I thought this was a news website..haha"
"This just goes to show how messed up the world we live in really is! There is a MAJOR issue w/the price of gas, presidential campaigns going on and not to mention our men still over in iraq and Clay being gay is oh so important?? What is up with this?"
"First off, this is not top news. There are more important things happening. Who Cares!"
Folks, you seem to be forgetting an important point: This story is posted in the "Entertainment" section of the site. It *is* news within the entertainment industry. If you want news that is more "important," why are you reading the "Entertainment" section of the site? Look under "National News" instead.
September 24, 2008 9:09 p.m.