Ricky Martin wants to ‘normalise families’ with same-sex parents

The father-of-four is raising a family with his husband Jwan Yosef

(Getty Images for LARAS)

Singer and father-of-four Ricky Martin said he wants to “normalise families like mine” which have two parents of the same gender.

Martin married his artist partner, Jwan Yosef, in 2017 and the pair are raising four children together.

Speaking during a recent appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres show, he spoke about being a proud gay man who is parenting with his husband.

The performer, who recently appeared on the cover of PEOPLE magazine’s Pride Issue, said he wants to normalise same-sex parents and families.

He said: “I’m very happy. People ask me, ‘How do you feel [about being on the magazine cover]?’

“Well, you know what, every time I have the opportunity to No. 1, talk about my family and let the world know that we’re good people, and how we feel and love is really— I just want to normalise families like mine.”

The couple has four children: twin boys Matteo and Valentino, 12, a daughter, Lucia, who is 2, and a 19-month old son, Renn.

Martin continued: “It’s very interesting, but a lot of people tell me, ‘Ricky, thank you so much just for posting that picture with you and your husband and your kids. That made me feel better about myself.”

The man dubbed the “King of Latin Pop” came out publicly in 2010 on his website over a decade ago, but at the height of his career in the late 1990s, he chose to hide his sexuality.

In his cover interview with PEOPLE, he spoke about how a lack of LGBTQ+ role models growing up made it difficult to accept himself. He said it still continues to affect young people today.

Martin explained: “There are many, many kids out there that don’t have someone to look up to.

“All they have around them is people telling them, ‘What you’re feeling is evil’. But, you can’t force someone to come out.

“But if you have an egg and you open it from the outside, only death comes out. But if the egg opens up from the inside, life comes out.”