Anderson Cooper: I'm Gay

CNN's Anderson Cooper recently admitted for the first time, in the context of an email exchange with The Daily Beast's Andrew Sullivan, that he is gay.

Sullivan, who is also gay, asked Cooper for comment on an EW story about gay people in public life coming out differently than in years past.

As the visibility of gay people - high-profile or not - is at the core of individuals, the deceasing newsworthiness of such revelations is encouraging.

Asked for his take on the subject, Cooper told Sullivan - and gave him the go-ahead to print - what he's never matter-of-factly said before:

"The fact is, I'm gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn’t be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud."

On why he hasn't made it an issue before now, he says:

"Although my job puts me in the public eye, I have tried to maintain some level of privacy in my life. Part of that has been for purely personal reasons."

"I think most people want some privacy for themselves and people they are close to."

"But I've also wanted to retain privacy for professional reasons. Since I started as a reporter 20 years ago, I've often found myself in some very dangerous places."

"For my safety and the safety of those I work with, I try to blend in as much as possible, and prefer to stick to my job of telling other people’s stories, and not my own."

"I have found that sometimes the less an interview subject knows about me, the better I can safely and effectively do my job as a journalist."

"I've always believed that who a reporter votes for, what religion they are, who they love, should not be something they have to discuss publicly."

"As long as a journalist shows fairness and honesty in his or her work, their private life shouldn't matter. I’ve stuck to those principles for my entire career, even when I’ve been directly 'the gay question,' which happens occasionally."

"I did not address my sexual orientation in the memoir I wrote several years ago because it was a book focused on war, disasters, loss and survival. I didn't set out to write about other aspects of my life."

"Recently, however, I’ve begun to consider whether the unintended outcomes of maintaining my privacy outweigh personal and professional principle."

"It’s become clear to me that by remaining silent on certain aspects of my personal life for so long, I have given some the mistaken impression that I am trying to hide something - something that makes me uncomfortable, ashamed or even afraid."

"This is distressing because it is simply not true."

Follow the link to read Cooper's full email to Sullivan.

[Photo: WENN.com]

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/07/anderson-cooper-im-gay/

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