Ricky Martin Is Livin’ La Vida Gay

Ricky Martin is no longer denying the rumors: He’s gay.

In a statement posted via Twitter in both Spanish and English, and later confirmed with his representative, Martin said: “I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am.”

For many, the announcement will come as no surprise; the “Livin’ La Vida Loca” singer’s sexuality has been speculated about for years. But the Puerto Rican star, who got his start as a child in the teen group Menudo, never directly addressed it and was usually seen at events with beautiful women on his arm.

Martin, 38, said he decided to reveal the truth after working on his memoirs helped him realize that he had to be free with himself, and not keep any more secrets.

Assisted Living Facility To Open Next To Gay Nude Hotel

The Palm Springs Architectural Advisory Committee has recommended approving a combined assisted living facility and retail project proposed for a vacant lot in the heart of the city’s uptown district — and next to a clothing-optional hotel.

Developers with Tappan Enterprises LLC said Monday they hope to break ground toward the end of the year on a 190-bed assisted living facility of suites, along with a beauty parlor and day spa open to the public, at 1000 N. Palm Canyon Drive.

Tappan’s three-story project would stand next to the gay-oriented clothing-optional Canyon Club Hotel, and the assisted-living facility developer plans to block views into the hotel’s pool area from the facility’s third-story with palm trees, architect Chris Sahlin said.

Chairman Paul Ortega said he worried the palm trees eventually would grow too tall – and no longer block views into Canyon Lodge’s pool. If the trees won’t work “there’s a number of different options that we can put into play,” Tappan Enterprises partner Tom Searles said after the meeting.

Owners at Canyon Club said they had “no complaints” about an assisted living facility next door.

Cambodia Looks To Become The New Hot Gay Destination

It was 10 p.m. in Siem Reap, and while most tourists were tucked in after a long, hot day exploring the temples of Angkor, things were just getting going at a bar called Linga.

Pairs of European men in their 30s and 40s wearing unbuttoned collared shirts and checkered krama scarves sipped fruity cocktails and jostled for space with the young Khmer crowd, who huddled around small tables in anticipation of the main event: the Saturday night drag show.

A statuesque Khmer performer who went by the name Beyoncé took to the stage draped in a black, body-skimming floor-length gown and wearing a blond Afro wig. Soon, everyone was on his feet, belting out a song from “Dreamgirls.” The traffic outside literally stopped. Curious travelers, Khmer families and little girls peddling red roses craned their necks to get a better view as the song’s syrupy melody wafted into the jasmine-scented evening air.

Homosexual acts are not outlawed in Cambodia, as they are in a few Southeast Asian countries, but outward displays of affection and untraditional lifestyles are rare. Yet in Siem Reap, a small town that gets about a million tourists a year, gay visitors and locals are carving out a little haven. In the last few years, a small flurry of gay-friendly bars, restaurants and hotels has opened up in the city’s center and beyond, with wink-wink names like the Golden Banana and Cockatoo.

Mrs. Keaton Comes Out As A Lesbian

America’s TV mom on “Family Ties” — reveals her real-life family is of the non-traditional variety. “I’m a lesbian mom,” Meredith Baxter says in a new interview.

The beloved star tells People.com that she started dating women seven years ago, but before that the idea of being gay “had never crossed my mind,” she says. “I was never comfortable with myself, [but] that doesn’t mean I was questioning.”

Now, she says, “I feel like I’m being honest for the first time.” Meredith has been happily involved with building contractor Nancy Locke for the past four years, they’ve lived together for two.

According to People, all five of her children support her new-found identity. “I just couldn’t stop smiling,” her son Peter tells the mag, “because she finally figured it out.”

Story Update: Chaz Bono Likes Being A Man

Now that he’s finally in the body he always felt he belonged in, Chaz Bono says he’s enjoying something that took decades to accomplish.

“It’s a long process going back almost a decade. I got clean and sober in 2004 and I couldn’t have done this before that,” Bono, formerly known as Chastity, tells, “Entertainment Tonight” in a taped interview.

Born the daughter of Cher and Sonny Bono, Chaz, 40, has been undergoing a female-to-male sex change since March, a process that has already had significant physical changes on his body.

“It lowered my voice,” he says. “Fat redistributes, muscle growth, hair growth, sex drive increases.”

One thing that didn’t need changing:  His mental and emotional concept of himself as fundamentally male.

“I always felt like the male from the time I was a child. There wasn’t much feminine about me,” he says. “I believe that gender is something between your ears, not between your legs. That is something I discovered in the early ’90s. It was just a long process of being comfortable enough to do something about it.”

It was turning the milestone age of 40 that spurred him to action.

“I was turning 40 and I thought it’s now or never. I want to still feel vibrant and be able to enjoy my life in a male body and not wait until I am an old man.”

Learn more about Chastity’s transformation to Chaz: http://alindenauer.wordpress.com/2009/06/12/sonny-has-a-son-chastity-bono-becoming-a-man/

Bruno Opens Amsterdam’s ‘Pink Light’ District

British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, in his latest incarnation as a gay Austrian fashion reporter, jet skied through a canal into Amsterdam‘s red light district to open a brothel full of men in thongs ahead of the Dutch premiere of ‘Bruno’.

“For too long, guys coming here from around the world have been forced to have sex with women,” Cohen said, standing in front of a pink-lit brothel building in the Dutch capital as surprised tourists and stag party goers looked on.

“It gives me great pleasure to declare Amsterdam’s pink light district officially open for business,” he said, as about a dozen men emerged from behind curtains at the windows of a three-storey brothel.

Cohen, hoping to replicate the success of his 2006 hit movie “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” was wearing a cut-away suit which revealed his own red thong. In “Bruno,” Cohen is a gay fashion reporter seeking stardom in America.

Sonny Has A Son! Chastity Bono Becoming A Man

Chastity Bono is having a sex change operation to become a man.

A spokesman for Bono, born a girl to Sonny and Cher, says he “has made the courageous decision to honor his true identity” and began the sex-change process earlier this year. Publicist Howard Bragman said Bono is proud of his decision and hopes “that his choice to transition will open the hearts and minds of the public regarding this issue.”

The 40-year-old writer, activist and reality-TV star came out as gay 20 years ago, Bragman said.

In the book “Family Outing: A Guide to the Coming-Out Process for Gays, Lesbians, & Their Families,” Bono describes the realization of being “somehow different — specifically different from who my mom expected me to be.”

A message left with Cher’s representatives was not immediately returned.

Bono’s second book, “The End of Innocence: A Memoir,” details how relationships with Joan, a lover, and Sonny and Cher changed after coming out.

In 1995, Bono posed for the cover of the gay magazine The Advocate and began working for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).

Polish Politician Fumes Over “Gay” Elephant

A Polish politician has criticised his local zoo for acquiring a “gay” elephant named Ninio who prefers male companions and will probably not procreate, local media reported.

“We didn’t pay 37 million zlotys (7.6 million pounds) for the largest elephant house in Europe to have a gay elephant live there,”  Michal Grzes, a conservative councillor in the city of Poznan in western Poland, was quoted as saying.

“We were supposed to have a herd, but as Ninio prefers male friends over females how will he produce offspring?”  said Grzes, who is from the right-wing opposition Law and Justice party.

The head of the Poznan zoo said 10-year-old Ninio may be too young to decide whether he prefers males or females as elephants only reach sexual maturity at 14.

Johanna Sigurdardottir – The World’s First Openly Gay Prime Minister

With the economy in free fall, the currency plummeting and inflation and unemployment soaring,  Iceland is set to appoint the world’s first openly gay woman as prime minister. 

Johanna Sigurdardottir, the 66-year-old Social Affairs Minister, is the pick of the Social Democratic Alliance Party to lead the interm government.

“She is a senior parliamentarian, she is respected and loved by all of Iceland,” said Environment Minister Thorunn Sveinbjarnardottir.

Talk about breaking the glass ceiling – in Reykjavík it’s gonna be shattered!