CNN Anchor, Anderson Cooper Comes Out

so while many of us are comfortably sleeping, dreaming on our beds, under the blankets, prepping for work on a stormy morning, one of the biggest coming out news happened at the other side of the world. CNN Anchor Anderson Cooper, the one who handed the trophy to Filipino Efren Peñaflorida, makes public announcement he's gay.  

the truth is, it's not really a shocker news as he's been rumored numerous times about it and was even dubbed one of the most influential gays by Out magazine. but for him to formalize it means the world to the LGBT universe. this tweet said it for me:

i was so overjoyed and deeply touched. for someone who "may" have a LOT to lose because of his prominence in media, he still did this. not really for himself i think as the important people in his life already knows. but i think he did this for the LGBT community. 

I don't think it's anyone else's business, but I do think there is value in standing up and being counted.

and so this resonates back to all the closet people  like me, who have less to lose, but still hesitates. true, it's a personal journey. but sometimes i wonder if it's really fear that hinders me from coming out. maybe am just lazy, passive about controlling my life. maybe part of me doesn't fully believe yet that this lgbt thing can actually work. these endless maybes, it's really exhausting. defeating. so am going to drop this big pain of a "may" and just "be". i am in love with the most wonderful womyn i've ever known. how can i say i love her and not be proud of what we have? how can i not accept and share this part of me that makes me happy to the people i also love? 

Anderson Cooper Comes Out: 'The Fact Is, I'm Gay'

The Huffington Post  |  By Jack Mirkinson 

Posted: 07/02/2012 11:08 am Updated: 07/02/2012 4:58 pm

Anderson Cooper has, at long last, publicly said he is gay.

Cooper made the announcement in an email to writer Andrew Sullivan.

"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," he wrote.

Cooper's sexuality has long been the subject of ample media speculation, but he has never publicly confirmed it.

“I just don’t talk about my personal life," he told New York magazine in 2005. "...The whole thing about being a reporter is that you’re supposed to be an observer and to be able to adapt with any group you’re in, and I don’t want to do anything that threatens that.”

On Monday, though, Cooper reversed course:

"I have always been very open and honest about this part of my life with my friends, my family, and my colleagues. In a perfect world, I don't think it's anyone else's business, but I do think there is value in standing up and being counted. I’m not an activist, but I am a human being and I don't give that up by being a journalist."

Cooper also said that he ultimately decided that he was doing more harm than good by not speaking up:

"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. I’ve also been reminded recently that while as a society we are moving toward greater inclusion and equality for all people, the tide of history only advances when people make themselves fully visible."

Previously, the 45-year-old CNN anchor and daytime talk show host has been romantically linked to Benjamin Maisani, the co-owner of New York City gay bars Eastern Bloc and Bedlam.

*****

You can read the full email here. 


news source here.


Twitter Reactions to Anderson Cooper's Coming Out here.