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Chely Wright comes out as country music's first openly gay performer
Growing online buzz and speculation came to a head this past weekend when it was revealed that country artist Chely Wright, 39, would announce that she is gay in this week's People Magazine.
The move is obviously not without precedent; Ricky Martin came out in the same way just a month ago. And stars like George Michael, Melissa Etheridge - and even younger, less established artists like "American Idol" alums Clay Aiken and Adam Lambert - along with many others, have come out of the closet and gone on to greater success.
In short, coming out of the closet doesn't seem to negatively impact one's career. But, this is uncharted territory for country music: there's never been a major star in this genre to reveal his or her homosexuality. Country music's artists and fans have typically skewed to be more conservative than not.