I don't know what is wrong with me all of a sudden.

I have always tried to allow other fans to have their own opinions about Clay without it bothering me too much. Now, all of a sudden, I am really upset about something.

A "newish" fan on another board has all of a sudden, after one particular pic and a chance comment from a friend of hers, decided that she "intuitively" gets a "vibe" that he is gay, and that he has changed and somehow "betrayed" her.

And now, for reasons I won't fully go into until the CD comes out, I am feeling very angry about it. I am sad for him. It drove home the realization that this is going to haunt him forever, no matter what he says or does. If he gets married, has kids, raises a family, and goes to his grave having lived a "straight" life, people will just say he stayed in the closet. They will never admit they might have been wrong.

How can he have a normal, healthy relationship with a woman, knowing there are people who will throw it in his face? How can he live a normal life? It isn't fair that something so potentially wonderful in his life is tainted before it even begins!

I am suddenly flooded with a tidal wave of emotion, and I hurt for him as if he were a member of my own family.

Right now, I am not looking forward to the CD, or the possibility of seeing him in Concert in Dec. All the joy has been sucked out of the whole thing now. I just downloaded my first Clack, and I can't even enjoy that, b/c when I watch him, her words echo in my head.

If there was a "sad" emoticon, that's what I would put for my mood.