Ricky Martin Who Once Bullied Gays, Now Fights Against Russian Anti-Gay Laws
It's evident that Puerto Rican superstar Ricky Martin has a heart of gold through his activism, philanthropy and the love of his two sons, but before he confronted his feelings and found peace by coming out; he held in a lot of anger.
In an earlier interview, the now-openly gay singer admitted that would target his anger toward others, specifically, gay people.
"I was very angry, very rebellious. I used to look at gay men and think, 'I'm not like that, I don't want to be like that, that's not me.' I was ashamed," Martin told Australian GQ. "When you're told you're wrong by everyone, from society, from your faith - my self-esteem was crushed. I took my anger out on those around me. I look back now and realize I would bully people who I knew were gay. I had internalized homophobia. To realize that was confronting to me. I wanted to get away from that."
While the media relentlessly inquired about Martin's sexuality for years, he officially came out in 2010 and has since been a strong advocate for LGBT rights on a global level.
Recently, he's joined forces with other Latino celebrities, such as Cuban-American, Perez Hilton (Mario Armando Lavandeira, Jr.) and Uruguayan-American actor and gay rights and political activist, Jonathan Del Arco, among a long list of celebrities, to don T-shirts that read: "Love Conquers Hate" in Russian. The powerful T-shirts show support for gays in Russia who are shocked by a new law that bans pro-gay "propaganda."
The recent Russian law, which is supposedly aimed at "protecting children" by banning "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations among minors," was enacted in June. Russian President Vladimir V. Putin has argued that the law "does not in any way infringe on the rights of sexual minorities."
The Russian-language "Love Conquers Hate" T-shirts are part of an initiative launched by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest U.S. gay-rights group.
Participating celebrities will share photos of themselves wearing the T-shirts on their social media platforms, encouraging followers to do likewise. According to the HRC, all net proceeds from shirt sales will go to a fund supporting gay-rights efforts in Russia.
"We stand with Russia's LGBT community and their allies," said HRC President Chad Griffin. "We are committed to doing as much as we possibly can to support their efforts to repeal this heinous law."
Other celebrities joining the T-shirt campaign include: Jonah Hill, Jaime Lee Curtis, Kristen Bell, Fergie, Kelly Osbourne, Kevin Bacon, Doutzen Kroes, Anthony Bourdain, Tim Gunn, Todd Glass, Amanda Leigh Dunn, Ana Matronic, Olympic swimmer Craig Gibbons, NBA basketball player Jason Collins, country singer Maggie Rose and soccer players Jozy Altidore, Lori Lindsey and Megan Rapinoe.
Gay-rights activists have asked the International Olympic Committee to call for the law's repeal ahead of the Winter Olympics, to be held in Russia in February.