Ricky Martin, like many of us, had the pressure of a life of fame and the life of being successful on account of his sex appeal and physical appearance. And, like all people who suffer this temptation, the "gifts" of success can seem to outweigh the gifts of humility and denial of that success - in pursuit of higher principles. The pressure is immense.

The pressure to succumb to homosexual desires is also immense. And this goes for anybody - homosexual desire is something that anybody can succumb to, just as it is something that anybody can turn away from. (It is one of the Big Lies of our culture that people are somehow born gay and that it is a fixed identity until that person's death. Never believe this lie; countless individuals leave homosexual desire, leave the addiction of homosexual sin and have happy, normal, heterosexual lives. Never believe the lie.)

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But the lie is so alluring. And, when you live your life bathed in sexual desire, when your identity is full of the notion that sexual desire equals success, it can be a quick "one-two" step into embracing the full perversion of homosexual desire and practice. Ricky, I feel for you. Ricky, there are many people out there who had the same tempting offer of the homosexual life ... and RESISTED IT. They fought that power. They turned away from that sin. They pushed through the dark allure - and they found the way out.

Today, they live happy, wholesome, heterosexual lives.

I tell people all the time that the seduction of homosexuality is so powerful - especially when supported by charismatic presidents and powerful lobbying groups - that it can seem so much easier just to succumb, rather than fight. But that fight is for your very soul. This goes for everybody reading this, whether you identify as "gay" or "straight," "Christian" or not - this is a battle for your soul.

When the homosexual temptation arises in a human's experience, it is always possible to avoid it - and push through. There are many good Christian churches there to help, many good organizations out there with powerful, good resources (NARTH.org is one of my favorites) and many loving individuals who can offer their personal stories to inspire and edify.

Homosexuality is not just one form of human sexuality, not necessarily any different from heterosexuality. Homosexuality is a cage in which you are trapped in an endless cycle of constantly wanting more - sexually - that you can never actually receive, constantly full of emptiness, trying to justify your twisted actions by politics and "feel good" language, constantly attempting to silence the voices of those who are simply trying to help get you out of that sin.

But even if all the millions of people like me are somehow silenced - and with our current corrupt U.S. administration, such a future is not necessarily science-fiction - your conscience will never be silenced, if you trust in the God who created you. This is aimed at everybody, but in this instance, specifically at the man who became an entertainer, beloved for his sex appeal, then turned into a practicing gay man by the pressure of a culture that idolizes sex over virtue:

Turn to God, save your soul, love yourself, and be strong.

Homosexuality will always be a sin, no matter how nicely we talk about it. If you think there's love to be found in homosexual relationships, you're right. There's love everywhere. Even in the nastiest of places. But, if you truly - truly - follow that love, you will find that you cannot, in good conscience, condone an activity that leads to the destruction of the human body, that leads to the destruction of the human potential for creation and leads one into a downward spiral of confusion known as "the gay identity."

This is not "hate" speech; hate speech will be what you'll see in the mouths of homosexual activists after they read these words I have written. But notice the difference: They will be condemning me, personally, and saying the cruelest things a human being can say about another - while I am simply sitting here saying how much I love humanity, how much I deeply care for the well-being of those around me and how much I wish you, Ricky, had the conviction in your soul to know that you can quit this. You can quit this.

---Michael Glatze was a gay-rights leader who left homosexuality and became an activist for healing from homosexuality. He was asked to write an appeal directly to Ricky Martin in the hopes that the entertainer might reconsider his "gay identity." Glatze can be reached at michaeleglatze@gmail.com.