For everyone old enough to remember Ricky Martin in his prime, I’m sure last week’s announcement that he was gay did not entirely throw your world off balance. In fact, I am willing to bet that his announcement came as very little surprise to basically anyone old enough to remember his infectious “She Bang,” or “Livin’ La Vida Loca” hits of the 1990s. This does not mean, however, that he should not be commended for gathering the strength to tell the world that he is gay.

Coming out is a difficult process. It first requires a person to accept their feelings of being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning, which in many cases is not easy. However, after this sometimes difficult self-acceptance, the person puts all of their relationships on trial essentially and tells the people closest to them that they are LGBTQ. It can be terrifying. Knowing that the people you believed to be your closest friends, the parents who raised you or the people you look to for guidance could change their opinions of you, or even worse stop loving you is a reality nobody ever wants to face, and I can imagine it is only more difficult when you are a celebrity and everyone knows your name.

Today in Hollywood, the landscape has become even more intrusive. With tabloids, celebrity oriented gossip blogs, and social networking sites (i.e.: Twitter, Facebook, myspace) chronicling every move of an individual, regular Americans begin to feel as though they personally know the celebrities whom they follow. As a result of this, regular non-celebrities believe it is their right to know everything about their favorite celebrities, as if they were in their inner-circle of friends and family. This, coupled with Hollywood’s intense pressure to be heterosexual, can make the coming out process arguably even more difficult.

While it may have been easier for Ricky Martin to come out of the closet more than a decade after his rise to fame, it is still no easy feat. After seeing the scrutiny that other openly gay musicians (particularly Adam Lambert) have endured at the hands of Hollywood in recent months, I can imagine Ricky Martin would be comfortably living a privately homosexual life with only his closest friends and family members knowing. This was however not the case. He decided that now was the time to come clean with the world about who he is, and I personally cannot thank him enough. It is times like these, when gay marriage is being fiercely contested, homosexual students are not allowed to attend their proms and language like ‘fag’ and ‘dyke’ are being overlooked in schools that gay visibility is so sorely needed. While I do not think that Ricky Martin’s coming out is going to necessarily open the flood-gates for other LGBTQ celebrities to come running out of the closet, or anti-gay legislation to disappear immediately, his efforts are a wonderful step in the right direction, and I am sure he feels intense relief about telling the world who he is without leaving any part of his identity out.

The final sentence of his coming out statement read, “I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am”. Congratulations, Ricky Martin, and thank you for having the courage to let the world know entirely who you are.