Anderson Cooper on others coming out: There’s a bunch of people whom I’m surprised have not been more forward’

We all know that Anderson Cooper waited until last summer to publicly confirm that he is gay after years of remaining mum on the topic.

And now that he’s done it, to no detriment to his career, he wonders why other famous folks who he knows don’t do the same.

‘There’s a bunch of people whom I’m surprised have not been more forward, and, you know, given their position and the extent to which they’re forward about other aspects about their lives,’ the Silver Fox said Monday night while guesting on pal Andy Cohen’s Bravo talk show Watch What Happens Live.

Cooper was criticized by many when he did not discuss his sexuality in his 2006 book Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival.

‘I mean look, it’s a personal decision that everyone has to make for their own reasons,’ he told Cohen. ‘Obviously, I think we’re all better off with greater visibility, so I would encourage people to do what they’re comfortable with.’

His opinion has not changed that people need to come out only when they are ready.

‘Look, I’m pretty understanding of where people are at, and people are at different places in their lives,’ he said.