Clay Aiken [ tickets ] reveals he is gay in an upcoming People magazine article which is available to preview today (9/24) on the magazine's website.

The "American Idol" runner-up--who is pictured with his infant son on the front cover of the magazine with the headline: "Yes, I'm Gay"--said in the interview that the first decision he made after becoming a father was to publicly acknowledge his sexual preference. "I cannot raise a child to lie or to hide things," he told People. "I wasn't raised that way and I'm not going to raise a child to do that."

Though many were not surprised by Aiken's admission, he told the magazine he expects some of his fans may be overwhelmed by the news. "Whether it be having a child out of wedlock, or whether it be simply being a homosexual, it's going to be a lot."

Aiken--whose son, Parker, was conceived via in vitro fertilization with music producer Jaymes Foster--had historically skirted questions about his sexuality. In an Associated Press interview two years ago he said: "I don't really feel like I have anybody to answer to but myself and God and the people I love."

According to the People article, he came out to his mother four years ago after dropping off his younger brother Brett, who was being deployed to Iraq, at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. He said his mother was somewhat stunned but she also was very supportive and comforting. "Even now, she still struggles with things quite a bit but she's come a long way," he said in the article, which hits newsstands Friday (9/26).