News today via Blabbeando and Twitter that Ricky Martin will be on the cover of People en Españols Father’s Day issue. Here’s what I wrote for Mediaite.
While the English-language version of People has often been used as a coming-out vehicle, gay and lesbian issues are a much touchier issue in the Spanish-language press. Thus, picking Martin to grace the cover of its Father’s Day issue is a significant breakthrough even for a magazine with an openly-gay father as its editor.
While Martin’s not-news announcement was considered a punch-line for some people, the news was viewed differently by some Latinos who noted that Martin was the first major–and we mean MAJOR–Latino celebrity to acknowledge being gay.
If you don’t think the Martin story is a big deal in Latin America and among Latinos, take a look at co-blogger Oriol Gutierrez’s take when it was announced that Martin was gay. People en Español is headed by openly-gay editor Armando Lucas Correa.
