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My thoughts on Anderson Cooper going public
I knew that the day Anderson Cooper decided to confirm publicly that he is gay, I’d get to run the photo I snapped with him at the Democratic National Convention in Denver four years ago.
So glad that day has come!
As you saw in the previous post, Anderson discusses his sexuality in an email to Andrew Sullivan and explains why he has not addressed the elephant in the room for so long.
He wanted to do his job as a reporter and not have his private life be any part of his life as a journalist.
But as famous as he’s become – and now he’s quite a brand with a daytime talk show as well – that was becoming quite impossible.
There will be many “it’s about time” and “I knew all along” comments for sure but I don’t feel that way about it at all. It’s up to any of us, no matter how famous, to come out publicly when we damned well please – when the time is right.
It’s not like Anderson was living some kind of false life and parading around with girlfriends. He was simply living his life. I hope people – gay people especially – will be supportive instead of snarky about this.
It’s so great when a public figure like him comes out and owns who they are – it’s great for all of us.
Here is a link to Anderson’s letter published today in The Daily Beast.
Comments
(All comments are reviewed before being published, and I review submissions several times per day.)
Randol White says:
Well said Greg. As somebody who came out publicly (local news anchor, not national) in three different media markets over the years, I know a bit about how personal this decision is. Thankfully for me, the outcome has always been overwhelmingly positive… and I hope the same will be true for Anderson.
VDUFFORD says:
Greg,
Great commentary!
Spot on…at least it was for for me.
Richard says:
Actually, those who watched Anderson last week on Kathy Griffin’s talk show might think he actually came out then, calling a man “bitch” who tried to secretly take his photo on a plane. Just before that, he admitted to sitting next to Johnny Weir on the plane.
In retrospect, Kathy is probably mad that he didn’t come out on her show even though he did in code (if you were straight or clueless)