Chely Wright engaged to girlfriend Lauren Blitzer

Country star Chely Wright to marry GLBT activist! Chely Wright is engaged to her girlfriend. The country singer — who came out as gay last year — has announced her plans to marry Lauren Blitzer, a GLBT Civil Rights activist, People magazine reports.

“Out country singer Chely Wright and her fiancée, Lauren Blitzer, a GLBT Civil Rights activist have set a date and plan to be married in Connecticut Aug. 20,” Wright’s rep said in a statement.

“They met through their youth advocacy work, and say that their passion for Scrabble holds them together.”

“The freedom of being out and open about who I am allowed me to find and fall in love with Lauren,” said Wright, “the most amazing woman I’ve ever known.”

Wright — who struggled with depression and even considered suicide, has since become outspoken about her sexuality, and penned a memoir, Like Me: Confessions of a Heartland Country Singer, in which discussed her journey — hid her sexuality up until last May for fear of being shunned by the country music community.

“Nothing in my life has been more magical than the moment I decided to come out,” she said last year.

Wright previously claimed that coming out as gay ruined her career.

“They’re wrong,” she said. “There’s the gay community that now knows my name and it’s a long leap from the new demographic of people who will come to my Facebook page and hit the ‘Like’ button to them buying my record and coming to live shows. It’s a big stretch from those new fans to make up for the fans I lost. It didn’t help my career.

“My record sales went directly in half. If it appears from the outside in that it’s helped my career, it could be because I haven’t talked about the negative. You won’t hear me bitching and moaning on my Facebook about the hate mail I’ve gotten. My life has been threatened.

“I get nasty letters every day, ‘I’m through with you Chely Wright, you’re going to hell.’ ‘There’s a big difference between press and advocacy and…. sometimes people forget that people who sing or make movies, this isn’t just a hobby for us.

“This is how I pay my bills. In coming out I had a feeling that it would diminish my wage earning, and that feeling was correct. And, I am fine with that.”

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