Clay Aiken, the runner-up on American Idol and 29-year old pop sensation, is now ready to admit that he is a homosexual. Aiken will appear on Fridays cover of “People” magazine holding his infantile son with the headline, “Yes, I’m Gay”. Aiken has long dealt with swirling rumors that he might be homosexual or bisexual which were only exacerbated when he became a multiplatinum recording artist and broadway star. Aiken responded to similar rumors in an Associated Press interview over two years ago by saying, “I don’t really feel like I have anybody to answer to but myself and God and the people I love.” Aiken recently had a son by use of in-vitro fertilization and credits friend and producer Jaymes Foster with convincing him that he could no longer hide his homosexuality any longer.

“It was the first decision I made as a father,” Aiken told People 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.”

Gay groups have come out (no pun intended) in support of Aiken’s honesty, particularly Neil Giuliano who is President of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, who said, “We congratulate Clay for making this decision and for setting an example for others and his family”

Aiken also goes on to tell about breaking the news to his family that he was gay, particularly his mom:

“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,” he said. “She started crying. She was obviously somewhat stunned. But she was very supportive and very comforting.”

Aiken will undoubtedly be lambasted by christian groups and certain fans for this honesty. He’ll certainly need some celebrity reputation management sometime in the near future.

No, not via cannon or people-launcher. Stephen Colbert’s DNA is being sent into space in October. His DNA will be digitized and brought to the International Space Station by Richard Garriott, a video game designer and future astronaut.

Richard Garriott is a prominent video game developer and designer and has been involved in such well-known projects as Ultima Online and City of Heroes–both Mass Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games.

Garriott also sits on the board of The X Prize, a group that wants to encourage privatized space exploration. As for Colbert’s DNA, it will be deposited for an “Immortality Drive”, as Garriott calls it. The purpose for this “Immortality Drive” would be to clone Stephen Colbert in the event that the earth is ever destroyed.

“I am thrilled to have my DNA shot into space, as this brings me one step closer to my lifelong dream of being the baby at the end of 2001″ Colbert said in a written statement, referring to the 1968 landmark science fiction film “2001: A Space Odyssey.”