You might not have been able to tell from Anderson Cooper‘s permanently furrowed brow, but he did not like it that a Harps grocery store in Akansas put up (and then took down) a “family shield” to protect customers from seeing homosexual Elton John on the cover of Us Weekly with his partner and newborn baby. But I suspect ulterior motives: Cooper just doesn’t want Harps to block his inevitable TV Guide cover when Anderson debuts.
personal interest
Anderson Cooper Doesn’t Want A Family Shield To Ever Cover His Pretty Face
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NY152
I applaud both Anderson and Dr. Phil for giving this ridiculous story exposure. It is still shocking that in 2011 we still have people that whine and cry like babies about an image on a magazine. I hope the manager who made this “decision” to place the cover over the magazine gets disciplined accordingly!! If an image of happiness, love and commitment offends you then move the south pole. Didn’t we learn the rule of ‘everybody needs to get along’ in kindergarten???
Cam
That is what groups like NOM fear the most. If people start to see gays as anything other than sex crazed perverts then they’ve lost their battle. That was why the fight against DADT freaked them out so much, as soon as some openly gay soldier wins a medal for saving lives it torpedoes so much of their strategy.
curt
This is silly and childsih… harps shouldn’t just be on the “ridiculist”, they should be on the “ridiculist” hall of shame…
Fred
One thing’s for certain, we’ll NEVER see Anderson and his partner and baby (if they have one) on anybody’s magazine cover.
redmont
@curt: It wasn’t Harps who did it, it was a manager at one single branch who decided to put it up after some people complained. Let’s not lose focus on who’s the bad guy in this story. Every other Harps location had it out without the family shield.
Nottachristian
Should be covered up because it’s a horrid pic of Elt.
ProfessorVP
@Fred: You beat me to it. Of course this will incur some wrath, but within a couple of days of each other, Oprah makes a big deal about the anniversary of Coming Out Day– y’know, coming out for OTHER people, people substantially different from Oprah, who is straight, in case you forgot, and loves her some Stedman… and Andy Cooper, pleading the case for tolerance and acceptance where rubes do their shopping for Skoal and Budweiser– tolerance and acceptance of OTHER people, not Andy. It is all too silly for words, and as far as I’m concerned, there’s enough blame to go around- the rubes who complained, the store manager, and yes, Oprah, and Andy. Societal changes always come from the top down, and the nit-picky, tight-assed (not in a good way) attitudes of ordinary working rural Americans are formed, shaped, and kept alive and well as a direct result of the closet.
Michael
@ProfessorVP: I resent this idea that anyone in the public eye must disclose their private relationships simply because they are gay. Is he going to be on the cover of a magazine with his partner? Probably not. You know why? As soon as you ALLOW them into your personal relationships, you are giving permission for them to invade your personal relationships until you die. If you don’t give the permission, it’s hard to have your relationships exploited. Maybe he just doesn’t want his private life to be on the cover of a gossip magazine?
Would you?
mk
@ProfessorVP: Societal changes come from the interplay of large social, economic and technological factors. Social change is not something that comes from the top elite classes and gets imposed on the hoi polloi. Sometimes people who become memorable figures associated with a change are from the top, but they are just one part of a larger picture.
Gray haired, middle aged national news anchors are not who people should expect to lead cultural revolutions in the realm of sexuality. If we do we’ll be waiting a LONG LONG time. Those kind of professionals make their public image as traditional as they can for their career, so if they publicly join a “new wave” at all it’s liable to be after it’s become old hat.
alex
@Michael: Yes, I would. If it made one small step in breaking down one more person’s homophobia, and if it were to make it just a little easier for some gay boy out there to have a role model he can identify with on a personal level, which is what we do with all role models.
Michael
@alex: Clearly you don’t understand what media invasion of privacy is. You wouldn’t simply be on the cover. Every single detail of your relationship would become public, people who you are acquainted with putting out information that is misinformed (and sometimes not)…it’s not as simple as snapping a photograph and you wash your hands for the day. It becomes a lifestyle and I don’t think it’s fair to expect someone to lead such a life if they choose not to.
rrr
@alex:
If this is supposed to be about giving young gay boys who are really in need of role models an out gay guy in the news they can identify with on a personal level then the most pressure should be on news guys with the same sort of backgrounds as the gay boys in the tougher situations. Guys like small town southerner Shepard Smith and the african american news guys like Jason Carroll and Don Lemon. The “east coast old money trust fund baby” demographic that could identify with Anderson Cooper is not a group that should be emergency priority.
One thing’s for certain, we’ll NEVER see Anderson and his partner and baby (if they have one) on anybody’s magazine cover.
A lot of American celebrities who have come out publicly did it after a marriage or baby, so who knows. Wanda Sykes suddenly came out after getting hitched and her wife getting pregnant. Clay Aiken was totally closeted until his son was born. David Hyde Pierce started talking out about his long term partner after they were married.
Celebrity baby magazine covers are pretty tacky, though. As much as I appreciate the presumably noble intentions of gay celebrities who are doing them, I sure don’t think less of someone like Wanda Sykes who talks about their new family but avoids the corny cover thing.
Lee
A lot of American celebrities who have come out publicly did it after a marriage or baby, so who knows.
Unless Anderson’s somehow been fundamentally changed by the great love he has for his openly gay bf, that scenario will never happen. Anderson keeps an extremely tight lid on his personal life. Yes I know he’s talked about everything under the sun publicly except being gay, but I suspect even if he WERE to come out, unlike Elton, he would end it there and never allow anyone a glimpse into his private world with his man.
CaliberGuy
@Lee:
It’s his right to keep is personal life personal and private and to only allow those that he wishes to know the detail about it like his friends and family. Like others have said once someone especially a celebrity allows the press into their personal life it then becomes and assumed open book and you get hounded about it lies leaked etc until the day you pass and then even if they can dig up any “dirt” or make it up they will.
Do you or the others that want him to come out go around telling every one you see walking down the street, at work, in the auto shop etc every personal detail about your life and your relationship, no of course not because it’s personal and it is no of their business yet you expect Celebrities to do do just that let every singe person know those details because they happen to be famous.
Not to mention the fact that he is a news anchor, and part of that profession is keeping your private life privet and out of public knowledge by and large, after all your supposed to be reporting news not being the news.
divkid
I’d be only too willing too cover coops’ face.
and due to the wonders of modern technology i frequently do.
Lee
@CaliberGuy, my comment wasn’t meant to condemn Anderson for keeping his life private, it IS his right to do just that, I only meant that I didn’t think anyone should have any expectation that he’d become more open about his life IF he were to come out.
divkid
@divkid: note to self: must buy some screen cleaner.
Ken
@alex: What makes you think gay boys are going to look to is a gray haired fortysomething TV anchor as a role model. Just because a celeb is openly gay doesn’t mean he is going to connect with teenage gay boys.My nephew is in HATCH a org. for gay teens in Houston and the last person they identify with is a CNN anchor, and yes they know he is gay.Now if some pro athlete or rapper came out that would be different story.
TheInsider
Cooper is one to talk. After he finally comes out, then he will have credibility. And Dr. Phil? A phony and a quack.