E. M. Pio Roda/CNNAnderson Cooper.12:56 p.m. | Updated The television journalist Anderson Cooper, the biggest star on CNN, on Monday publicly identified himself as gay. He was concerned, he said, that his long-held silence on the matter had led some to believe that he was uncomfortable or ashamed of his sexuality.
Mr. Cooper came out in an e-mail message to Andrew Sullivan, the openly gay blogger for The Daily Beast, which was republished in full with his permission. The e-mail affirmed what had been an open secret in Manhattan and media circles for years, but had never been addressed publicly by Mr. Cooper.
“Even though my job puts me in the public eye, I have tried to maintain some level of privacy in my life,” Mr. Cooper wrote. In part, he wrote, that has been for professional reasons: “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.”
He continued, “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.”
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Mr. Cooper said he had been “reminded recently” that there was value in standing up and being counted. “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 to Mr. Sullivan.
Mr. Sullivan said he had asked Mr. Cooper for feedback on an Entertainment Weekly cover story, “The New Art of Coming Out,” about the understated ways in which some celebrities now self-identify as gay. Weeks earlier, The New York Times had described how Jim Parsons, a star of “The Big Bang Theory” on CBS, had casually identified as gay during an interview — a “no-fuss manner” that “demonstrated how, for some gay stars, a new normal exists that avoids the choreographed tap dance out of the closet.”
Mr. Cooper hosts a prime-time show on CNN, “Anderson Cooper 360,” and a daytime talk show on local stations, “Anderson.” He is also a contributor to “60 Minutes” on CBS. The announcement on Monday makes him the most prominent openly gay journalist on American television.
Mr. Cooper did not immediately respond to an interview request. A CNN spokeswoman said he was on assignment for “60 Minutes” and would not be anchoring “360″ on Monday night.
The understated announcement caught some people at those networks off guard on Monday, though his sexual orientation was known to them, just as it was to friends and other journalists. Network publicists sometimes tried to impose ground rules on interviews of Mr. Cooper to ensure that he wasn’t asked what he called on Monday “the gay question.” But he was asked occasionally, nonetheless, and wasn’t willing to answer directly until now.
“He told me many years ago that he didn’t want to be known as ‘the gay anchor,’ ” said Gail Shister, a columnist for TVNewser.com, who says she had a private conversation with Mr. Cooper about the subject. “He didn’t want his sexuality to be connected to his profession.”
Ms. Shister, who is openly gay, observed, “He’s been under increasing attack from lots and lots of gay people by continuing the perception that he’s somehow ashamed.”
Out magazine has identified him as gay for years, most recently in April, when it called him a “silver-haired heartthrob to countless Middle-American housewives.”
Some people close to Mr. Cooper had speculated over the years that he had kept his sexuality a sort-of secret to avoid alienating some of his fans. But he did not indicate any concern about this in his e-mail message to Mr. Sullivan.
And he said he did not mention his sexual orientation in his 2006 memoir, “Dispatches From the Edge,” “because it was a book focused on war, disasters, loss and survival.”
Many of the immediate reactions were of the “duh” variety, but others said that his public statement would further propel the acceptance of gays and lesbians in American society, a trend that has been evident in polling data for decades. Over the last two decades, television has reflected the growing acceptance of gays — and, perhaps, in the process speeded that acceptance, whether through its representations of gays in sitcoms like “Ellen” and “Modern Family” or in news programming.
“The visibility of gay people is one of the core means for our equality,” Mr. Sullivan wrote in the blog post that included Mr. Cooper’s response. And Mr. Cooper wrote that he agreed. Although he said he would continue to preserve his privacy — and did not mention any partner — he wrote, “I do think visibility is important, more important than preserving my reporter’s shield of privacy.”
The proprietor of Gawker, Nick Denton, who over the years has published gossip that Mr. Cooper is gay, wrote on Monday, “It’s awesome that the calculation has changed this much: that it’s now more embarrassing to remain in the closet than it is to come out.”
Two months ago, President Obama indicated his support for gay marriage, heightening gay rights as an issue in the presidential campaign. That night, May 9, Mr. Cooper started his CNN show by saying, “the most recent Gallup poll says 50 percent of Americans say yes, same-sex marriage should be legal; 48 percent say no. So half the country supports same-sex marriage and tonight that half includes the president of the United States.”
Over the years on his CNN newscast, Mr. Cooper has reported extensively on subjects like the bullying of gay children; the status of gays in the military; and, as recently as last month, religious leaders who preach against gays and lesbians.
“Since my early days as a reporter, I have worked hard to accurately and fairly portray gay and lesbian people in the media — and to fairly and accurately portray those who for whatever reason disapprove of them,” he wrote in the e-mail message to Mr. Sullivan. “It is not part of my job to push an agenda, but rather to be relentlessly honest in everything I see, say and do.”
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, a media advocacy group, said in a statement that “even prior to coming out publicly, Anderson’s terrific work has raised awareness of inequalities facing L.G.B.T. people.” Herndon Graddick, the president of the group, added: “I’m proud to call him my friend. He’s a role model to millions and now will inspire countless others.”
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