Following the Aug. 8 birth of his son Parker, singer Clay Aiken is following through on a promise he made to himself as a new dad: to publicly acknowledge that he’s gay.

“It was the first decision I made as a father,” Aiken, 29, tells the upcoming issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday. “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.”

Aiken says he expects the news may overwhelm some of his fans. “Whether it be having a child out of wedlock, or whether it be simply being a homosexual, it’s going to be a lot,” said Aiken, who returned to Broadway last week as Sir Robin in Monty Python’s Spamalot.

He adds that he hopes his fans “know that I’ve never intended to lie to anybody at all. … But if they leave, I don’t want them to leave hating me.”

How He Came Out to His Family
The born-again Christian singer also reveals how he told his mother Faye he’s gay four years ago. After dropping off his younger brother Brett, who was being deployed to Iraq, at Camp Lejeune, “I started crying in the car,” Aiken remembers. “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.”

So what was his mom’s reaction? “She started crying. She was obviously somewhat stunned. But she was very supportive and very comforting.” Even now, Aiken admits, “She still struggles with things quite a bit, but she’s come a long way.”

As for his own child, Aiken tells PEOPLE that Parker – who was conceived via in vitro fertilization with his best friend, music producer Jaymes Foster – will be raised in an environment that is “accepting and allowing him to be happy.”

Says Aiken: “I have no idea if he’ll be gay or straight. It’s not something I’ll have anything to do with, or that he’ll have anything to do with. It’s already probably up inside the code there … No matter what the situation you’re in, if you’re raised in a loving environment, that’s the most important thing.”

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My mother was the first person I called when I heard the news (she still believesd the poor lad is was straight).  Clay Aiken has finally come out of the closet! After years and years of speculation & assuming, Clay has decided to come out to People Magazine.

“Yes, I’m gay,” he tells People. “I cannot raise a child to lie or to hide things.”

New dad Clay Aiken is heading back to Spamalot on Broadway.

The singer will reprise his hit role of Sir Robin in the Monty Python comedy musical from September 19th.

Aiken played the part, originated by former Frasier star David Hyde Pierce, earlier this year. His latest stint will run for four months and end on January 4th.

The American Idol star became a first-time father last week when his son Parker was born.

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WENN

Clay Aiken is urging the world not to forget about Somalia.

The American Idol runner-up and a U.N. goodwill ambassador, appealed for world attention on the war-torn and hunger-stricken country on Wednesday.

“There hasn’t been much discussion of Somalia since the early 1990s in the U.S.,” Clay said during a visit to Somalia. “The American population kind of got a bad taste of Somalia in the early 90s and hasn’t really had much interest in the country since.”

In the past year, thousands of Somalians have died and one million were rendered homeless after insurgent Islamists rallied against the country’s government and its Ethiopian military advisers last year. The violence and never-ending conflict has made Somalia “the most dangerous place for a child to be,” Clay says.

“In the lower part of the country, southern part, I feel it’s a more desperate situation than any place we’ve ever been,” he says.

The diamond in the rough is the de facto independent state of the Republic of Somaliland, located north of Somalia. In existence since 1960, Somaliland remains relatively peaceful, but its independent status has yet to be recognized. Officials are hopeful a public figure of Clay’s stature will shed more light on their difficult situation.

“In Somaliland, you really do have a sense of people who really want to help themselves, who want to do better, who want to effect change for themselves, that is very hopeful,” Clay says.

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WENN

American Idol judge Randy Jackson knows a thing or two about being a dad. The music mogul has three: Taylor, 18, Jordan, 10, and Zoe, 12. So, OK! wanted to know what he thought about the news that former Idol runner-up Clay Aiken is about to be a parent for the first time.

“I think he’s going to be a really good dad,” Randy told OK! at The Father of the Year Awards to benefit Save the Children U.S. Programs. “Clay — Call me, dawg. I’ll give you some tips.”

Randy was honored as one of the Fathers of the Year at the ceremony in NYC, and the musician/producer/record exec said he knew two guys who would be a little jealous about his award. “Simon [Cowell] and Ryan [Seacrest] would be extremely angered and upset because they’re not even fathers,” he joked. “It’s an award they couldn’t get.”

So what’s the best thing about fatherhood for Randy? “That unconditional love you get from your kids,” he explains. “That’s the best love in the world.”

Finally, Randy opened up about the marriage between his good friend Mariah Carey and her new hubby Nick Cannon: “I’m so happy for her. I love her immensely, dearly. Nick is mad cool. I think they’re going to be extremely happy together.”

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WENN