Mr Ron Davies yesterday rounded on the media for abusing its power by reporting "a stream of rubbish" about his private life, as he made a plea for tolerance, declaring: "We are what we are."
Meanwhile Mr Davies' brother, John, spoke out describing brutal beatings they suffered as boys at the hands of their violent father.
The man who resigned as Welsh Secretary after "a severe error of judgment" on Clapham Common last week which led to him being robbed at knifepoint, admitted the past few days had been "agonising" - but he still left many questions unanswered.
In a personal statement to the Commons, he compared the hurt he felt to playground bullying as a child, and said he could not have got through without the love and support of his wife, daughter and a few close friends.
He added: "We are what we are. We are all different, the products both of our genes and our experiences. Members of Parliament are no different from the society we represent."
Mr Huw Roberts, who was Mr Davies's special adviser until his resignation a week ago, insisted later that this comment was not an admission that he was gay.
In his statement, delivered to a hushed Commons, Mr Davies said his failure to protect his personal safety had led to his becoming the victim of a "frightening and shocking crime", and he apologised to fellow MPs for any embarrassment he may have caused.
He said: "The shock of the events of last Monday and the sadness of my resignation have been added to by media intrusion into my private life, reporting as fact a stream of rubbish.
"Rumour and lies have been asserted as truth. The whole of my adult life has been pored over for something which could be twisted to suit the present prejudice. "Ultimately this arbitrary abuse of power is not just an attack on me, but on our rights. The right to privacy belongs to all citizens."
His brother, an economics lecturer at Harlech college in north Wales, disclosed details of their traumatic childhoods hours after his younger brother's House of Commons statement. Ron, with his elder brothers John and Peter and sister Pamela would be lined up, interrogated by their father Francis, a fitter, and hit with a leather strap, said Mr John Davies, (54). He tells today's Times newspaper: "It was as physically violent and brutal as you could imagine.
"From as young as I can remember, we were all regularly beaten, bullied and victimised by our father.
"He would use violence until one of us gave in to confess then punish us even more. We would regularly be black and blue at our father's hands. He would fly into a rage at the slightest thing. Dinners would end up all over the walls and we'd all get beaten."
The eldest three children all left home at 16. John and Peter joined the Merchant Navy. Peter (60) now works in the motor trade, while Pamela (58) is a nurse.
John said he had never got married because he dreaded the chance that he could one day have children and treat them as his own father had done. "But Ron overcame that. It was the happiest day of his life when his daughter Angharad was born," he said.
Francis Davies died in 1976 at the age of 67 from heart disease and a perforated ulcer. His wife, Beryl, lived to 84, dying in 1995 after seeing her youngest son Ron go to university and become an MP.