I have never seen an American public figure come out in the way Anderson Cooper has.

It has been common knowledge for many years now that Cooper is gay but he never said anything definitive, nor did he ever deny it. It was an odd kind of closet that really wasn't a closet. I did seem maybe he didn't want to go all the way out for some reason, and finally he explains himself. I don't fault him at all for the way he did this and how long it took, but do find it interesting and unusual.

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

http://slatest.slate...w_sullivan.html

Cooper is very popular and very highly respected by most of the American public. Having someone like Cooper come out loud and proud is without a doubt, a very good thing. Also he's so much more than a suit with a good haircut kind of television anchor. I'll never forget his performance during the Katrina storm in New Orleans. Brilliant work.

This article uses the phrase I was unable to come up with myself to describe Cooper before the "big" announcement:

"openly closted"

Perfect.

http://www.slate.com...the_closet.html

Whenever people come out, be they public figures or bus drivers, the announcement is inevitably met by complaints that they’re “flaunting it.” Someone is always ready to wish that the love that dare not speak its name would shut up already. But it does matter that gay men and lesbians come out: Negative attitudes to gay people decline when people have an openly gay friend or relative in their lives. After all, we’re not monsters or freaks, we’re just as boring and fabulous and flawed—and as deserving of full civil rights—as the rest of you

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Many gay professionals holding down highly paid jobs in the U.S. face the same issues that Anderson Cooper did although probably not as media exposed as he.

While I came out to my daughter in her first year in college, professionally I never came out but of course most who had daily contact with me in my office knew. I chose to be identified by my profession rather that being identified as a gay who practiced my profession.

My experience has taught me that if someone gets to know you first and later as gay, rarely is it a negative experience. The other way around, finding out through gossip that you are gay before they meet you, results in far more conflict.

A few close associates, who knew but didn't discuss it until I came out to them did, complain that they felt that I didn't trust them by not telling them!!!

I am not at all unhappy the way I "evolved" into an out gay as I come from a generation or way of thinking that what you do in bed and with whom is strictly private and none of any ones business but your own.

Yes, I acknowledge that I may have not contributed to the advancement of gay rights by not wearing a "I am gay" label, but I truly feel in the time frame of my professional life, which is long past, things were much different than they are now and I may well have been compelled to be an "out professional" had I lived in contemporary times.

Having liked and admired Anderson Cooper for years before I learned he was gay, I think I was more gratified when I learned of it than I would have been had I learned he was that "handsome gay anchor on CNN? before I had watched him on television. On a societal benefit basis, I think the more "out" celebs and well known individual in sports, media and movies etc. there are in society, the better for the advancement of gay rights.

I've never heard of Anderson Cooper until the OP. In my own little view of the world I saw the OP as no news at all until, I remembered that being gay is somehow an "issue" to certain people. I'll start believing that we live in a fair and balanced society the day that such announcements no longer need to be made.

Personally i do not see a point or the big deal of "coming out"

Who cares if he is gay or straight or sideways?!

He is a man, a great reporter and tv figure, what he does in his bedroom is his business.

If he was to come out an announce something like that he really is a woman or an alien, then yeah i can see the news worthy story,

Personally i feel its time to stop categorizing people into gay or straight, it is personal sexual preference and is no one's business.

He explained why it is important. That's your answer. Because by appearing to hide it, it did look to many people that he was ashamed of it.

He explained why it is important. That's your answer. Because by appearing to hide it, it did look to many people that he was ashamed of it.

i fully understand, but what i am saying is that its not peoples business what he does in his bedroom

I am sure those "people" do not go around telling strangers what sexual position they prefer

Straight, gay or sideways- all human beings with same color blood.

...

I'll start believing that we live in a fair and balanced society the day that such announcements no longer need to be made.

I think that will never happen. I mean NEVER. Gay people are always going to be a tiny minority group. As such, VISIBILITY is extremely important.

“The visibility of gay people is one of the core means for our equality,”

http://www.latimes.c...0,4282833.story

Also, with celebrities, it's complicated. Cooper is at the top of his profession. Clearly he had the talent, but IF he has been so open at the BEGINNING of his career, would he be where he is at now? I think absolutely NO WAY.

I certainly can't blame him for waiting. I think his particular coming out case is extremely helpful. People tend to be more likely to be for gay civil rights when they know and like a gay person. So many Americans feel they know and like Cooper through his celebrity (even though of course they don't really know him). I also think a case like his helps gay youth growing up in homophobic environments and who knows maybe some of this generation's Romney-like anti-gay bullies may think twice before attacking.

I fully realize Cooper didn't do this to become a gay civil rights activist or leader. But the positive effect of his example will accomplish more than most actual activists.

Well it was openly known he was gay for a while now...he never denied it, and never really discussed the issue. The thing is, in the journalism expressing your sexuality isn't really a "positive" thing for the profession. Gay or straight, you're supposed to be balanced and objective as a journalist. Your sexuality, your preferences/opinions etc. aren't supposed to taint the story your covering. I totally respect the way Anderson handled it: it's none of anyone's business (which, really it isn't...I certainly don't care) so let's not talk about it. He is a guy that strikes me as talented and just trying to get on with his life. I don't think he is trying to be a gay poster boy or a civil rights leader. He just wants to be a good journalist.

I thought back to the discussion that was had when Ricky Martin came out, which also wasn't a real surprise either. But with Ricky his job was to be a sex symbol, to shake his butt and he was supposed to make young girls swoon. That's kind of hard to do when your gay. Journalist is different. I would have the same horrified reaction if Anderson Cooper french kissed some guy on television as I would if Sam Donaldson frenched kissed some chick on national television.

PhL, You seem to have reduced being gay to just sex. I'm curious why you've sexualized a whole vast community of people. Being gay is much much more than what we do in the bedroom, especially in a society that has viciously tried to erase us via legislation, threats, intimidation and bullying, and violence.

He explained why it is important. That's your answer. Because by appearing to hide it, it did look to many people that he was ashamed of it.

i fully understand, but what i am saying is that its not peoples business what he does in his bedroom

I am sure those "people" do not go around telling strangers what sexual position they prefer

Straight, gay or sideways- all human beings with same color blood.

Well it was openly known he was gay for a while now...he never denied it, and never really discussed the issue. The thing is, in the journalism expressing your sexuality isn't really a "positive" thing for the profession. Gay or straight, you're supposed to be balanced and objective as a journalist. Your sexuality, your preferences/opinions etc. aren't supposed to taint the story your covering. I totally respect the way Anderson handled it: it's none of anyone's business (which, really it isn't...I certainly don't care) so let's not talk about it. He is a guy that strikes me as talented and just trying to get on with his life. I don't think he is trying to be a gay poster boy or a civil rights leader. He just wants to be a good journalist.

I thought back to the discussion that was had when Ricky Martin came out, which also wasn't a real surprise either. But with Ricky his job was to be a sex symbol, to shake his butt and he was supposed to make young girls swoon. That's kind of hard to do when your gay. Journalist is different. I would have the same horrified reaction if Anderson Cooper french kissed some guy on television as I would if Sam Donaldson frenched kissed some chick on national television.

TV anchors at the level of Anderson are a small group and they become celebrities themselves. Nobody is saying that is pure, ideal journalism; that's just the way it is. So these people get lots of press about THEM and they get interviewed themselves. Some aspects of their personal lives are part of who they are. So when a hetero anchor gets press or is interviewed and their wives and children are mentioned, sorry, that have officially "come out" as heterosexual. Gay is not only a sexual preference, it is a minority group status, in the US one that has yet to reach for treatment as first class citizens. I get very annoyed when people say gay people shouldn't come out because they are in the same boat as straight people. Straight people are already out! People are assumed to be straight from the get go. Cooper is an interesting case in that he was doing a very skilled open closet dance. So yes people did know he was gay and they knew for some reason he didn't want to officially come out. He could have kept it that way. I'm glad he didn't. It may be better for the next Anderson Cooper that he did come out. Maybe someday someone like him can not hide their identity early in their career and still have the same success potential. Not yet.

Ah my dear JT, what of Rachel Maddow? Openly lesbian. (Graduated from Stanford around the same time I was there). She's definately an up and comer and openly gay. No bones about it. And she certainly has her fans both gay and straight.

She also has one of the hottest shows on MSNBC.

Ah my dear JT, what of Rachel Maddow? Openly lesbian. (Graduated from Stanford around the same time I was there). She's definately an up and comer and openly gay. No bones about it. And she certainly has her fans both gay and straight.

She also has one of the hottest shows on MSNBC.

Good for her. But can a leading man aspiring actor in Hollywood come out and not commit career suicide. No!

There may be a difference between perception of lesbians and gay men but also there is no way Maddow's career success can be compared to Anderson Cooper. She's a leftist figurehead. Cooper is very mainstream, traditional American t.v. anchor star.

PhL, You seem to have reduced being gay to just sex. I'm curious why you've sexualized a whole vast community of people. Being gay is much much more than what we do in the bedroom, especially in a society that has viciously tried to erase us via legislation, threats, intimidation and bullying, and violence.

Why do you feel the need to put yourself into a special category?

Do you have different color skin? are you perhaps of some special religion? have different color blood? or do tell me what makes you different from the rest of the people, besides your sexual preference

What is it much much more? you have decided to make yourself much much more, WHY?

Yes in the past it was a big deal, and many died fighting, but those days are almost gone

May be its time you stop to categorize yourself, and try to put yourself into some special isolated community so everyone else will follow.

I have many friends back home who are gay, and i do not feel the need to make them into anything, they were guys from school and remained guys from school-nothing has changed.

They all live a life, have a partner, they do not walk around screaming they gay, they do not carry on like little queens, but live a regular life like me and everyone else.

When two Americans of the same sex go to city hall to get married, in most cases, they are sent away, and when the answer is yes, their marriage is meaningless at the national legal level.

When gay youth in American high schools can be themselves and not worry about being pinned down and violently assaulted by future presidential hopefuls ...

Sorry, gay people ARE in a minority group category. Like it or not.

The comment about "carrying on like little queens" is homophobic.

When two Americans of the same sex go to city hall to get married, in most cases, they are sent away, and when the answer is yes, their marriage is meaningless at the national legal level.

When gay youth in American high schools can be themselves and not worry about being pinned down and violently assaulted by future presidential hopefuls ...

Sorry, gay people ARE in a minority group category. Like it or not.

The comment about "carrying on like little queens" is homophobic.

Well Jing, i am sorry you feel this way

Its little hard to be homophobic when one has gay friends, do not you think?

As i said, i have no problem with gay people and do not see gay anything more or less but a sexual preference

Yes, no doubt there are still people out there who do have a problem, but those numbers are getting less and less.

If you do feel the need to categorize yourself, it is your choice, but then do not complain when people treat you as such

You calling me homophobic, because i do not approve of a grown up man running around and screaming like a girl?

When two Americans of the same sex go to city hall to get married, in most cases, they are sent away, and when the answer is yes, their marriage is meaningless at the national legal level.

When gay youth in American high schools can be themselves and not worry about being pinned down and violently assaulted by future presidential hopefuls ...

Sorry, gay people ARE in a minority group category. Like it or not.

The comment about "carrying on like little queens" is homophobic.

Well Jing, i am sorry you feel this way

Its little hard to be homophobic when one has gay friends, do not you think?

As i said, i have no problem with gay people and do not see gay anything more or less but a sexual preference

Yes, no doubt there are still people out there who do have a problem, but those numbers are getting less and less.

If you do feel the need to categorize yourself, it is your choice, but then do not complain when people treat you as such

You calling me homophobic, because i do not approve of a grown up man running around and screaming like a girl?

I reject the false paradigm you have proposed. This isn't about gay is ONLY a sexual orientation with no implications to a person's ENTIRE life vs. groups of men running around screaming like girls.

When two Americans of the same sex go to city hall to get married, in most cases, they are sent away, and when the answer is yes, their marriage is meaningless at the national legal level.

When gay youth in American high schools can be themselves and not worry about being pinned down and violently assaulted by future presidential hopefuls ...

Sorry, gay people ARE in a minority group category. Like it or not.

The comment about "carrying on like little queens" is homophobic.

Well Jing, i am sorry you feel this way

Its little hard to be homophobic when one has gay friends, do not you think?

As i said, i have no problem with gay people and do not see gay anything more or less but a sexual preference

Yes, no doubt there are still people out there who do have a problem, but those numbers are getting less and less.

If you do feel the need to categorize yourself, it is your choice, but then do not complain when people treat you as such

You calling me homophobic, because i do not approve of a grown up man running around and screaming like a girl?

I reject the false paradigm you have proposed. This isn't about gay is ONLY a sexual orientation with no implications to a person's ENTIRE life vs. groups of men running around screaming like girls.

it may not be to you, but it is for me. because this is THE ONLY way i see it and as i said, perhaps the sooner you stop to categorize yourself, the sooner others will see just as i see, nothing more or nothing less but a sexual preference.

I do recall though being labelled as a "breeder" when i went to gay clubs with my friends. I did not have a name i was just the "breeder"

Girls with gay friends guys were labelled as "faghags". These names WERE given to "us" by the patrons in the club.

So what term would you apply to those? straightophobes?

Heterophobes.

Sorry, but you're wrong. Being gay (or straight) has implications to a person's ENTIRE life whether you personally are conscious enough to be aware of that or not. This obsession with sex acts/sex preference only is just SILLY.

Heterophobes.

Sorry, but you're wrong. Being gay (or straight) has implications to a person's ENTIRE life whether you personally are conscious enough to be aware of that or not. This obsession with sex acts/sex preference only is just SILLY.

African-Americans use to say the same and now have African-American President

Heterophobes.

Sorry, but you're wrong. Being gay (or straight) has implications to a person's ENTIRE life whether you personally are conscious enough to be aware of that or not. This obsession with sex acts/sex preference only is just SILLY.

African-Americans use to say the same and now have African-American President

What are you on about? Just because Obama was elected doesn't mean there aren't SERIOUS racism issues in the country. Some have argued racism has gotten worse since his election.

Heterophobes.

Sorry, but you're wrong. Being gay (or straight) has implications to a person's ENTIRE life whether you personally are conscious enough to be aware of that or not. This obsession with sex acts/sex preference only is just SILLY.

African-Americans use to say the same and now have African-American President

What are you on about? Just because Obama was elected doesn't mean there aren't SERIOUS racism issues in the country. Some have argued racism has gotten worse since his election.

JIng, if you want to remain in a "special" category, by all means, feel free to do so, but then do not ask people to treat you "normal"

Look at your earlier posts, you have managed to put a label to everyone and everything.

Your label given in post 19 is a perfect example of how you see things-labels!

If you asked me how to categorize those, my answer would of been-Idiots, just as my answer would have been the same for those to walk around calling gay people names,

I do not see a point to continue playing post ping pong, as i said, it is your personal choice to put yourself into a "special" category, but then you have no right to ask of me to treat you same as i treat everyone else, because you, yourself have put yourself into a position to be treated differently

I am actually amazed at the amount of hostility and anger you carry on, even when coming across people who accept you for you as a person and not your sexual preference.

Would not want to see how you carry on with those who do not approve of your sex life

So let me get this straight. American gay people should live their lives under the DELUSION that they live in a society where they have equal rights and that they are treated exactly the same as if they were heterosexual, even when that is not true. So when they go to city hall and their marriage application is rejected they should tell everyone they are actually legally married, when they're not. Why not make a claim for social security survivor benefits when their spouse dies and ACT like they actually are getting income from that. Go to the store and spend some play money, and say this is actually really money because we're all treated the same. So when gay kids are beat up in school for being gay, they should tell people that straight people are also beat up for being gay, everyone's the same. Wild! Rose colored glasses time! Yeah, gay people "choose" to be treated as second class citizens under the law. They "choose" to be bullied in high school. That's the ticket!

So let me get this straight. American gay people should live their lives under the DELUSION that they live in a society where they have equal rights and that they are treated exactly the same as if they were heterosexual, even when that is not true. So when they go to city hall and their marriage application is rejected they should tell everyone they are actually legally married, when they're not. Why not make a claim for social security survivor benefits when their spouse dies and ACT like they actually are getting income from that. Go to the store and spend some play money, and say this is actually really money because we're all treated the same. So when gay kids are beat up in school for being gay, they should tell people that straight people are also beat up for being gay, everyone's the same. Wild! Rose colored glasses time! Yeah, gay people "choose" to be treated as second class citizens under the law. They "choose" to be bullied in high school. That's the ticket!

I am sorry, but how do 200 or so million people know when you gay or not? Do you walk around shouting at the top of your voice?

Perhaps you suggesting, people should walk around and shout their sexual preference.

Let me step outside and go tell everyone i like doggy style sex and see how i will be treated

I guess a much larger majority of kids who get beat up or bullied by bullies should also create a special group? As suppose the beating for being gay supersedes the beating just for the sake of beating

As for registering the marriage, its a totally different ball game.

Please tell me what is stopping a gay man from becoming a doctor or a lawyer or a singer or a street cleaner? Oh wait, there are thousands of lawyers and doctors who are gay.

SO it would seem, nothing but a chip on their shoulder

I suppose when someone gets fired from job for being incompetent and happens to be gay, it must be because he is gay,

As i said already too many times, you want to carry your chip and label yourself, feel free to do so, the treatment from others would be accordingly.

You don't understand what its like to be a young gay person in a homophobic environment because you've never experienced it and you lack the imagination to try to understand what it might be like. You do reflect the thinking of a lot of people. Thanks for sharing.

Heterophobes.

Sorry, but you're wrong. Being gay (or straight) has implications to a person's ENTIRE life whether you personally are conscious enough to be aware of that or not. This obsession with sex acts/sex preference only is just SILLY.

African-Americans use to say the same and now have African-American President

What are you on about? Just because Obama was elected doesn't mean there aren't SERIOUS racism issues in the country. Some have argued racism has gotten worse since his election.

JIng, if you want to remain in a "special" category, by all means, feel free to do so, but then do not ask people to treat you "normal"

Look at your earlier posts, you have managed to put a label to everyone and everything.

Your label given in post 19 is a perfect example of how you see things-labels!

If you asked me how to categorize those, my answer would of been-Idiots, just as my answer would have been the same for those to walk around calling gay people names,

I do not see a point to continue playing post ping pong, as i said, it is your personal choice to put yourself into a "special" category, but then you have no right to ask of me to treat you same as i treat everyone else, because you, yourself have put yourself into a position to be treated differently

I am actually amazed at the amount of hostility and anger you carry on, even when coming across people who accept you for you as a person and not your sexual preference.

Would not want to see how you carry on with those who do not approve of your sex life

Its pc brigade coming out lol lol

Its pc brigade coming out lol lol

I don't get either of your points. There is still severe racism in the USA. There is still severe homophobia as well. Both are facts of life.

About the charge of hostility from phl, I reckon it's a similar reaction as you might expect from a black person to a non-black person who says some of my best friends are black (ALWAYS a red flag), black is ONLY about skin color and nothing else, etc. I won't even get into the twisted comment about grown up man running around and screaming like a girl ...

In other words, what did you expect?

I believe the topic you started JT is about Anderson Cooper. You are dealing with some homophobic posters and it's not worth arguing with them. If they continue they will get a suspension. Posting homophobic remarks is not permitted.

The famous Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson reacts to the news.

It matters to the young gay kid in Anywhere, USA, who, despite the strides forward we have made, still wonders if being gay is okay. It matters that gay and lesbian kids have role models, especially the likes of Anderson Cooper, who has to be the hardest working journalist in America. It matters that that kid can see someone gay who excels at what he does with his life. It matters that Mr. Cooper has now said openly, “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.” Those are the words every gay kid wants to be able to say about themselves.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/guest-voices/post/mr-cooper-welcome-to-the-light/2012/07/04/gJQAp2C4MW_blog.html

Yes, Virginia, coming out is STILL important. Harvey Milk knew it was vital and the beat goes on ...

"Coming out" and when or more importantly if to do so isn't just something based on personal choice but on cultural necessity and obligation. I respect Anderson Cooper for explaining why he has come out and why he didn't do so before, but at the same time I take my hat off to him for not coming out before - why should he feel obliged to announce publicly who he sleeps with, however much of a public figure he may be?

I have never "come out" as I have never "been in" - I told anyone who asked me what my sexual preference was, but fortunately I was never asked until I came to Thailand (rather bizarrely!) so I was always judged by who I was rather than who I slept with. I say "fortunately" not because I was "ashamed" of my sexuality but because a few decades ago it would have made a considerable difference to me (it was illegal in my chosen profession). Now, however, things have changed and it makes less and less difference - at least in some countries and cultures.

To many of us in the West "coming out" isn't just unnecessary nowadays, it is counter-productive as you're deliberately setting yourself apart, asking to be treated and looked on differently. Many gays don't want to be treated or looked on as part of "a minority group category"; I can't think of anything worse than allowing my sexual preference to dominate my "ENTIRE life" - and I do mean allowing, as that IS a personal choice.

I realise (believe it or not!) that things are different in the US to most of the Western world. I grew up going to church on Sunday, usually to a Latin mass, and usually eating fish on Friday, I spent my working life in a profession where being gay didn't just mean dismissal but court-martial, but although the UK has its religious zealots and its school bullies and racists there is simply no comparison to those in the US, both in extremism and in popularity and acceptance. OK - POINT MADE. That doesn't mean that unless you've grown up gay in the US "You don't understand what its like to be a young gay person in a homophobic environment because you've never experienced it and you lack the imagination to try to understand what it might be like" or that one person's idea of what "being gay" means is what it means to most (or even many) gays. Nobody has a monopoly on what it was like growing up gay!

What's important about Anderson Cooper "coming out" is that he wasn't "flaunting it"; he didn't do it because he thought "VISIBILITY is extremely important" - he did it having "never hidden “this part of my life” from friends, family members, or colleagues", because he didn't want to give "the mistaken impression that I am trying to hide something—something that makes me uncomfortable, ashamed or even afraid." Nothing more.

Without any doubt at all, JT is correct in one thing: "... the positive effect of his example will accomplish more than most actual activists." FAR, FAR MORE. Just as people first laughed at the women's libbers burning their bras then simply got bored of their incessant whining and women were taken seriously and treated increasingly as equals in business and politics when they showed their ability by example, so a lot of people are bored by the antics of the gay "activists" and their constant whining and whingeing, their wanting to have equal rights and gay rights, to have "minority group status", to be different, etc, etc, etc - and that includes gay people who are bored with it. Acceptance will come (even in the US, although it looks like taking a bit longer there) with participation and integration, not legislation.

Once the "activists" realise that and stop embarrassing the remainder of the gay population then maybe others who are already "out" to friends, family and colleagues will choose to "come out" publicly, with dignity, as Anderson Cooper has done.