This is something that many of us knew (come on now, he is friends with Kathy Griffin), but something that was never confirmed…until today. Anderson Cooper, host of Anderson Cooper: 360 on CNN and the syndicated daytime talk show, Anderson, has officially come out of the closet and announced he is gay.
In an open letter to his longtime friend Andrew Sullivan of the Daily Beast, Anderson Cooper wrote: “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.” Good for you Anderson!
Anderson Cooper coming out comes on the heels of an Entertainment Weekly cover story last week that talked about celebrities and how they are nonchalantly coming out of the closet these days. Andrews Sullivan raised this question to Cooper in an email claiming it is still important for public figures to come out of the closet. “We still have pastors calling for the death of gay people, bullying incidents and suicides among gay kids, and one major political party dedicated to ending the basic civil right to marry the person you love,” Sullivan wrote. “So these ‘non-events’ are still also events of a kind; and they matter. The visibility of gay people is one of the core means for our equality.”
This is a great thing Anderson Cooper is doing. Announcing he is gay is something many of us thought, but was never confirmed. Anderson Cooper has often stood up against bullying and for the LGBT community, so that fact that he is now out of the closet, he can bring an even bigger awareness to these issues. I respect him for wanting to keep his private life private. I honestly feel no one should be forced to tell anyone their sexuality, but at times like these with marriage equality, bullying and equal rights such a huge issue in our country, I think the more positive faces we have out there, the better! Props to you Anderson Cooper on coming out!
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Not a day after Anderson Cooper, Rush Limbaugh Comes Out… http://hollywoodleek.com/2012/07/anderson-cooper-gay-rush-limbaugh-comes-out-fat/
Good for him. If more and more people in the public eye come out, it will be more normal to know of famous people who are gay. It will make it easier for our youth to come out and also identify with a famous person and society will become normalized to the fact that being gay is a normal part of life.
As a straight man, it sickens me of the persecution by one party to try and take away every single right from gay people that every American has earned. Being gay shouldn’t disqualify you from those rights. I pray that America will learn something from our neighbors to the North when it comes to the treatment of gays and same sex couples!