By Cindy Clark, USA TODAY
These days, Ricky Martin has nothing to hold back.
"Bring it on! I'm in such a cool moment of my life," says Martin, calling from his home in Miami.

The 38-year-old international superstar has inner peace, healthy twin boys, and yes, a certain someone special in his life. The fact that Martin is comfortable enough to share that his someone special is a man comes after more than 30 years of soul-searching, a journey that culminated in the August 2008 birth of his sons, Valentino and Matteo, born via surrogate.

"The moment I sat down and held my children in my arms, I said enough is enough," says Martin. "I need to tell the world what I'm about, my nature, because not doing so would be teaching my children how to lie. I didn't want it to be, 'At home, we're one thing, but when we go out, we're another.' "

'Beautiful' response from fans

It was the push he needed to finally set the record straight after years spent sidestepping rumors about his sexuality. A combination of cultural issues, worries about how it would affect his fame and pressure from some advisers kept him from speaking out sooner on his sexuality, writes Martin in his memoir, Me (Celebra, $26.95). The book is dedicated to his twins and takes readers on Martin's journey throughout his childhood, early rise to fame, spiritual awakening, charity work with children and fatherhood. And knowing that the book would be a truthful account of his life, Martin wrote a letter on his blog in March stating that he was a "fortunate homosexual man."

"If I knew (coming out) was going to be this easy, I would have done it 10 years ago," Martin says during a phone call from his office while the babies are "chillin' " in another room.

The response from the letter "was just so beautiful. The love that I've felt coming from the audience, from the media, it's been amazing. Why it took me so long, I don't have an answer for that. All I know is that everybody has to go through their journey, through a spiritual process, to confront themselves. Some people are able to do it when they're 17, some people can't do it until their 30s."

It's a message that's especially timely, given several recent high-profile cases of young gays who committed suicide after being bullied.

"I'm trying to say that everybody has their own time. When it happens, it happens. ... It's tragic. People don't understand that this is our nature and this is how we are born. Some religions, they tell you, 'You are wrong and your thoughts are evil.' Just try to run away from your emotions, and you start beating yourself up.

"It's ignorance. It's something that must stop. We must change hate."
From the start of his book, Martin makes it clear that this isn't a tell-all where he's naming names, but he is very forthcoming about sexual experiences with both men and women.

"I grew up Catholic. I was even an altar boy," Martin says. "I tried every possible way not to be gay, because unfortunately according to my faith, because being a rock star at the age of 12 ... it just wasn't allowed. ... Unfortunately, most people were telling me, 'Come, we love you, we can change you.'"