Transcript:
My name is Michael Stipe, I'm here to make an announcement on behalf of R.E.M., but I want to express any doubters that I'm here on my own volition. uhhhmmmm, I'm a little nervous, so I'm gonna read this to get it right.

R.E.M's Peter Buck & Mike MIlls announce today that after years of awkward speculation that they are heterosexual or STRAIGHT. I am happy for my bandmates & congratulate their candidness & their courage in making this whole statement. I stand beside them always and I am proud of their strength of character in this difficult but liberating decision to come forward. I can say on their behalf that they are here to finally acknowledge their themselves publicly.

Mike Mills said, and I quote "It is time to step out of the fog-fa-ffffffff-fo-faaaaaaa-FAG the fog of uncertainty & into the light of light."

uh, thank you all

LMAO! :D

Coming out of the heterosexual closet can be a real toughie these days, considering the popularity of all those Lance Bass/Ellen Degeneres covers that outsell all the covers in the land. But we, along with Stipe, applaud Mills for his daring proclamation, and totally understand why he couldn't quite bring himself to share his straightness with the world himself. (Sarcasm aside, did anyone else nearly orgasm when Stipe giggled at the end? Girl, boy, straight, gay, that man is a dish.)

SOURCE