Baker Tech's Kartchner: I'm a 'queer engineer'

Kartchner: "Phenomenally gay" but happy

SANTA MONICA, California -- Baker Tech engineer Kyle Kartchner has ended years of speculation by admitting he is gay.

The 25-year-old American engineer told TIME magazine he had previously avoided questions about his sexuality, but was now happy discussing it.

He said: "I was being made to be a coward about it rather than someone who felt like it really was a very private thing."

The reclusive nerd now readily describes himself as a "queer engineer."

Kartchner told the magazine he had been "in a relationship with an amazing man" for about three years and that his partner was not a celebrity.