So Ricky Martin is gay … big deal.

Why is it that whenever someone, especially a celebrity, admits to being homosexual, bisexual, transsexual or whatever-sexual, it incites a swarm of regurgitated gossip?

It becomes a hot topic, blown way out of proportion. In Ricky Martin’s case, the news spread everywhere: all over the Internet, on television, in magazines, on the radio and in conversations. Eventually, the gossip dies down and everyone moves on.

A new scandal comes along, complete with a fresh victim to tear apart verbally, and the cycle goes full circle. Think: Elton John, Ellen DeGeneres, Rosie O’Donnell, Lindsay Lohan, Lance Bass, etc. I find this peculiar pattern of overreaction irrational and especially irksome, because sexuality is not necessarily synonymous with identity.

What difference does it make who Ricky Martin chooses to love and come home to at the end of the day? I haven’t even heard this dude’s name mentioned since the 1990s, when the Spice Girls and Hanson were all the rage.

All of a sudden he’s in the spotlight again and headlining on entertainment news programs. Aren’t there more important issues going on in the world that need reporting?

Ricky Martin is a pop star and a pretty boy — he should be known for his music, not for who he happens to be attracted to. When it comes down to it, people should be remembered for their talents and contributions to this world. What does the sexual orientation of a friend, family member or celebrity really have to do with what kind of person he is?

Sexual orientation is as relevant as the brand of toothpaste one prefers over another — it has nothing to do with so-and-so as a person. It is simply an inherent preference. Do we really have control over what foods taste better to us over other foods?

Ricky Martin’s homosexuality is as arbitrary as Sandra Bullock’s cheating husband and Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s marital issues, because one’s private life should not have an effect on professional and social stance.

Even if sexual preference did have an effect on the type of person Ricky Martin is, he is a celebrity — odds are you are never going to physically encounter him. If Ricky Martin is a jerk, it is not going to determine how people feel when they listen to his music. To his fans, he is simply an image, a sound, a product.

Those beautiful women in his music videos were craftily put there to better Martin’s public image. That’s what sells CDs, and that’s what he most likely felt his fans wanted to see.

I believe that sexuality is not a facet of one’s personality and should not tarnish one’s talents. Whether Ricky Martin is “livin’ la vida loca” with a slew of men or living the standard life in the suburbs with a wife and kids — either way, it makes no difference to me.

I will always lump him together in my mind along with the Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC and all of the other bubblegum pop stars on the soundtrack of my childhood. To me, his homosexuality is a non-issue.