Out and About

"Although I'm scared and filled with uncertainty I know that I can rely on the support of my fans," he added. "Their love is bigger than all of this. I ask them from the bottom of my heart, not to judge me for being honest and to feel proud of who they are and never make the same mistake I did. Tolerance to diversity!"

Christian Chavez, a singer for the Mexican pop group RBD, has announced that he is gay after photographs of him kissing and exchanging rings with another man surfaced on the Internet.
"I don't want to keep on lying and lie to myself because of fear," Chavez said in a statement posted on the group's Web site Thursday. "I feel bad for not having shared this with all my fans before, as they are the ones that worry and it is because of them that I decided to be honest."

A series of photos that appeared on the Web site www.latingossip.com, also Thursday, showed the 23-year-old star, known for his ever-changing hair colors, signing documents, exchanging rings and kissing a man with short black hair. According to the site, the photos were taken in 2005 in Canada, which that year became the fourth country in the world to legalize gay civil unions.

The photos "show a part of me, a part that I was not prepared to speak of in fear of rejection, of criticism, but especially for my family and its consequences," said Chavez, whose statement appeared in both Spanish and English.