Johnny Weir finally comes out

Those who thought Ricky Martin’s admission that he’s gay was the worst kept secret of last decade, brace yourselves for further shock; Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir has finally come out of the closet.

In a small pre-release from his new memoir, Welcome To My World, which is to be published in People magazine, Weir talks about coming out, his secret relationship with another male skater and his views on the homophobia inherent in figure skating despite its glamorous reputation.

“No mother wants to hear her son say he’s gay. Those two words rip the picture of a daughter-in-law and grandchildren into pieces. I felt sorry for my mom and wanted her to know everything was going to be all right,” Weir writes.

Much of the delay in his admission Weir attributes to the gay media’s coverage of his decision to keep his sexuality secret.

“The massive backlash against me in the gay media and community only made me dig my ‘closeted’ heels in further,” he says.

Weir said he wanted to come out at a time when, in light of recent gay teen suicides, he thought his story could help others.

The excerpts from his memoir are out in the January 11 US edition of People.