It never occurred to me that I needed to say that I was gay. I simply am. Anyone who knows me or who's been around me ten minutes knows it too.
When my mother had to get dinner for 8 she'd just make enough for 16 and only serve half.
You are still lucky - you have a certain type of people who keep buying your music - but then you can get typecast and have to keep making that same music, and you can change only slightly. It's risky to bounce around and change your type of music.