Anderson Cooper Admits His Homosexuality

“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.” With these words Anderson Cooper, the CNN news anchor, publicly admitted his sexual orientation. Cooper made this confession to his friend in an email that, with his authorization, was put up this Monday on The Daily Beast’s website. Sullivan, a conservative and gay blogger, explains on the site that he asked the anchor to participate in an Entertainment Weekly that analyzed how public personalities nowadays make their homosexuality public without drawing much attention.

Although this news hasn’t stopped eliciting comments in the social media, the fact is that in the U.S., few doubted Cooper’s homosexuality. He himself had already made several puns to this effect, such as “I’d like coming out” and “I wish I was out,” in TV shows — that didn’t slip past the sensationalist media, determined to make him come out of the closet. Publications like Out Magazine had already put Cooper at the center of their criticism for his reluctance to recognize something that, according to them, was obvious.

In the email, Cooper explained why he had decided to talk openly about his sexual orientation now: “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.” The news anchor points out that, throughout his 20-year career, he always tried to keep certain parts of his life out of public scrutiny (it’s no coincidence that he is the son of Gloria Vanderbilt) for personal and professional reasons. “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.” In his letter, Cooper recognized that he has always been open about his life to family and friends.

Those who previously pushed him to come out of the closet are today complaining about the step he has taken. Gawker, a digital publication that, with headlines like “Anderson Cooper Is a Giant Homosexual and Everyone Knows It” and “Anderson Cooper Finally Comes Out” made fun, in his opinion, of the anchor’s efforts not to deny what, according to them, was evident, and have criticized the fact that he made his homosexuality public now, comparing his decision to Barack Obama’s recent support of same-sex marriage. Cooper was hoping that his revelation might allow him to maintain his private life aside from the media’s attention. Much to his regret, by now, the only thing that seems to have been put aside is recognition for his career.