Movies/TV

Anderson Cooper is Gay? Who Cares, He’s a Damn Good Reporter

 

Obviously, I’ve been living under a rock for the last few years as I had no idea Anderson Cooper was gay. But, according to this Independent story, it’s been ‘known’ for years that Anderson Cooper was gay and, this week, he’s finally come out and admitted it. It seems there’ve been a slew of blog stories from people who insist on letting other people know about a celebrity’s sexuality, even though it has no relevance on the celebrity in question doing his job, (aren’t there just slimy people everywhere!) and Anderson Cooper has been a frequent subject of those blogs. Looks like I read the wrong blogs or, more likely, the right ones.

But, after realizing, by not talking about it, it may make people think he was ashamed of being gay, Cooper acknowledged his sexuality on Andrew Sullivan’s blog this week, saying the important people in his life already knew — friends. family and colleagues, that is. Sullivan is a long-time friend of Coopers and so was given permission to publish an email from Anderson in which, among other things, he said:

.…I’ve also wanted to retain some privacy for professional reasons. Since I started as a reporter in war zones 20 years ago, I’ve often found myself in some very dangerous places. For my safety and the safety of those I work with, I try to blend in as much as possible, and prefer to stick to my job of telling other people’s stories, and not my own. I have found that sometimes the less an interview subject knows about me, the better I can safely and effectively do my job as a journalist.

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. As long as a journalist shows fairness and honesty in his or her work, their private life shouldn’t matter. I’ve stuck to those principles for my entire professional career, even when I’ve been directly asked “the gay question,” which happens occasionally.

 

You can read the rest of Anderson Cooper’s email to Sullivan here, it really is lovely.

The Beast, meanwhile, put together a few clips of Cooper’s best work. All I know is I fell totally in love with him several years ago when he started to cry while reporting on Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, as the devastation was so incredibly overwhelming. And, yeah, I’m a girl. We straight women love Anderson Cooper too.

Anderson Cooper is gay? Really. Who cares. He’s a damn good reporter.

 

 

Michelle Topham
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