Anderson Cooper and his network, like much of the mainstream media, have been responsibly covering the gay teen suicide epidemic for days now. The Coop is even hosting a special town hall special on Friday about the problem. But as Anderson interviews other celebrities and bullying victims, all I can wonder is: How come Anderson isn’t telling us his personal story?
Anderson isn’t out publicly, and he’ll tell friends he made that decision so he can objectively report on LGBT issues without publicly having a foot in the debate — as if being white or wealthy or a silver fox prevents him from objectively reporting on anyone with those traits. But as we’ve seen recently, when it comes to children facing pain and thoughts of killing themselves, the time is right to speak out with your personal story.
Don Lemon, in discussing the Eddie Long scandal, revealed he’s a child molestation victim. Tim Gunn, in talking about the torment young queer youth face, revealed he attempted suicide. Lance Bass even fessed up to being a former bully himself.
This is not about a journalist inserting himself into the story, or becoming the news. It’s about a journalist using his best tool: first-person experience. Every LGBT person alive has confronted, at least once, some for of discrimination or harassment or feeling of otherness. Being one himself, Anderson unarguably knows what it’s like to feel attacked.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
And yet, as he sits here interviewing non-dancing partner Ellen DeGeneres — who says she, at 51, only started feeling comfortable in her own skin in the past 10 years — about how she was tormented as a kid and as an adult in her professional life, we have Anderson keeping mum about what it was like for him growing up gay. FOX 9 Minneapolis’s Jason Matheson set an example by lending a responsible voice to child bullying. Anderson should follow suit.
While I’m sure the childhood of a Vanderbilt was posh and insulated, surely Cooper has something to say about being a young person and realizing you’re not like every other boy and girl. And surely he can speak about bullying he faced professionally, whether unspoken or blatant, about being a gay man trying to climb up the media ladder.
But there he is, quiet as a mouse. And this isn’t the first time he’s stayed mum while reporting on gay bullying; last year he welcomed Sirdeaner Walker, the amazing mother of Carl Joseph Walker Hoover, who took his own life.
If ever there was a time when Anderson Cooper would publicly recognize his own community, it is now. And if he won’t do it for himself today, do it for the eight-year-old Anderson. This isn’t about forcing Anderson out of the closet; he’s already there, he just won’t say the words. We need more voices.
Ian
A.C. teaches gay teens and gay kids that to be gay is to know SHAME by his continued insistence on staying in the on-air closet. What other conclusion are these kids to come to? Be a hero to these kids Anderson Cooper, come OUT, the air is FINE.
fifi
Haven’t you been watching?
He said last week that he had been bullied, but he didn’t go into any details.
Cam
He neutered himself during the George Rekers story because he was so bland and neutral on it. Other hetro reporters and broadcasters hit the story much harder. Anderson Cooper instead of keeping himself from being part of “The Story” (something he doesn’t mind when he writes books about his childhood, his mother, his father, and his brothers suicide) He is in effect limiting his ability to do the story because he is afraid of being labeled. It’s a shame. And if he thought that staying closeted would help his ratings…well his ratings have been heading into the toilet for the past several years.
fifi
Anderson reports from places where homosexuality is punished by prison or death and you wonder why he keeps his personal life private?
Ian
@fifi: I’ve seen Rachel Maddow in the middle east more than once and she seemed to come back in one piece. I’ve also seen her go in America to red conservative areas and also come back w/no harm. I think that is to do in large part w/ her living her life w/ open integrity. People respect that.
Kim
How do you know Anderson was bullied for being gay Did you attend school with him.Every gay person is not bullied for being gay.Maybe is was bullied for being rich or skinny . As for his ratings if he becomes “Gay Anchor Anderson Cooper”his show is history based on the people I know who watch the show including my parents.
The Real Truth
The real truth here is that you want to force Anderson to come out. You could care less if he was bullied, why or even how. The gay community has been trying to out him for years because he chooses to live his own life his way.
He doesn’t owe you or anyone else anything. He doesn’t want to be anyones role model, he has said that before. I actually respect him more for standing up to the bullying, yes bullying, by so many people like yourself who try to bully him into coming out by writing nonsense like this.
Yes, it is wrong to bully young gay teens but it is EQUALLY wrong to try to bully someone so bad that they give in and come out or do what ever else you are bullying them into doing. You are no better than the bully in school who calls young teens gays and fag**s. You just use a different form of bullying.
Ian
@Kim: I reiterate then my point on MSNBC is it “The Gay Anchor Rachel Maddow Show” or is it simply “The Rachel Maddow Show”. And let’s not get this thread off subject, it is about Mr. Anderson being HYPOCRITCAL by on the one hand advocating against gay bullying yet on the other hand staying in the professional closet. Gay teens & kids aren’t stupid, they pick UP on this fact.
Cam
@fifi: said…
“Anderson reports from places where homosexuality is punished by prison or death and you wonder why he keeps his personal life private?”
______________
That is a complete line of B.S. that was started because Kathy Griffin said it. Anderson himself has always said that he never wanted to make himself part of the story.
Additionally, Christian Amonpour has reported from areas of the globe where women are imprisoned for shoing their hair and killed for showing their arms and it hasn’t stopped her. So again, that excuse is complete B.S. and you know it.
Ian
@Cam: Excellent point about Ms. Amanpour.
Cam
@The Real Truth:
Yeah, you’re right, he is so much more brave to stay hiding and sniviling in his little closet than all those people that were brave enough to come out.
declanto
You can call him cowardly but it’s HIS CHOICE to be open or not. What the struggle is about is freedom. Equal Freedom. Does a straight have to declare? Hell no. So why should a homosexual be obliged to? Ideally, it shouldn’t matter.
John McLaren
I remember reading a few years ago that in his contract CNN specifically required that Anderson NOT disclose his sexual orientation. I imagine that this was either to avoid distracting viewers, turning off advertiser or keeping a perceived gay bias out of his reporting or interviewing. He might not want to violate his contract. Look at what happened to gay former CNN anchor Thomas Roberts who got fired. Besides, Anderson was probably butch and athletic in school and wasn’t targeted by bullies.
Ian
@declanto: A heterosexual declares simply by wearing a wedding ring on-air. A.C. skirts the issue regularly whenever it’s a news subject relating to gay issues. It’s true though, your point that he does not have to be out. I don’t know though, I believe in spiritual karma and maybe because he’s NOT living his life with open integrity has something to do with his current low ratings. People don’t like to watch someone who is supposed to report facts that comes across themselves as somewhat dishonest about themself.
Cam
@John McLaren:
Lets see the link to that supposed contract from CNN. They would never put that ina contract because they could get nailed in court and putting it in is de Facto outing him.
Isaiah
@The Real Truth: You are wrong. While people are certainly free to come out as they choose, Anderson is not just another gay man. He is a gay man who could make a difference by coming out. A big difference. And for some poeple it is the difference between life and death! Anderson’s privacy is not more valuable than young gay people’s lives!
When you have been given so much, you have to give something back — even if it’s hard for you to do so. It’s called doing somthing for the greater good. Since no one lives on this planet by themselves, it’s OK to do something for the benefit of others!
Michael
What makes you think AC didn’t bully his way to the top? The Vanderbilt family has a long history of doing just that.
Ian
@Isaiah: Well said, if this was HuffPo I’d fan you 🙂
rrr
@Cam: Anderson didn’t do the report on the Rekers story. Female straight correspondent Randi Kaye did the interview and prepared the story while Anderson was on location covering the Tennessee floods. Anderson did a suitable introduction to the Kaye piece and that was it.
Ian
@Isaiah: You said: ”
When you have been given so much, you have to give something back — even if it’s hard for you to do so. It’s called doing somthing for the greater good. Since no one lives on this planet by themselves, it’s OK to do something for the benefit of others!” 3 people and counting gave that comment a thumbs down, I guess they were members of the Log Cabin Republicans 😉
molly
@John McLaren: oh, and are the heterosexuals not allowed to disclose their orientation? per their CNN contracts?
mk
AC has said in a CNN interview recently and other sources that he wasn’t bullied. That fits with what he’s said before about his liberal, arts celebrating, mainly jewish private school and fits with what I’ve seen in the past where he’s clearly been really delighted when he gets to talk about his school or gets to chat with a guest who also went to the school.
He just told People Magazine there was a child with a stutter at his school he witnessed another student say some “unkind” things to and regrets he didn’t intervene, and again said he wasn’t bullied himself.
He went to a school with the children of Ralph Lauren and other luminaries like that. Ralph Lauren’s children probably weren’t the type to fag bash.
He did genuinely seem really surprised and sort of at sea when he started with bullying coverage and still seems kind of like that. Sometimes a person can exist kind of outside of common experience.
It would be great if he came out all the same, even though bullied gay kids don’t really want to hear about a gay man’s bully free educational experience. It would be another out gay on TV. CNN would probably prefer one of their other lesbians or gays like Don Lemon or Donna Brazile come out, though. Larry King is retiring. AC will be the beleaguered network’s biggest prime time name when King retires so they probably aren’t interested in seeing him fuck around taking career risks like coming out.
Mike
When I was in high school, other students would constantly ask me if I’m gay and harass me over it. I never came out to them because that was something personal and completely none of their business. I knew for a fact that they were immediately going to use it against me if I did come out. Queerty, Perez Hilton, and other whiney gay blogs need to stop trying to force people to come out. For some people, including myself, it is something personal and sensitive. I have a lot of repect for Mr.Cooper.
Lace
This trying to force Anderson out of the closet seems like the adult version of bullying.
Rando
I agree with Lace, if he doesn’t want to talk about his sexuality, why can’t that be his decision? He doesn’t need to justify his decision either.
These kids don’t need information on what other people when through, they’re too young to properly process this information in the adult way it’s given. They need to know that people accept them. That they’re okay who they are, and there is nothing wrong with them.
Instead of trying to get as many people to come out of the closet, or forcing them, we need to make sure that these kids understand that they’re great human beings.
Mark
No one is forcing Anderson to do anything. People are sharing their perspectives on a Gay anchor and celebrity who has not disclosed this side of himself while covering topical GLBT stories that often talk about the consequences of staying silent.
Mark
No one is forcing Anderson to do anything. People are sharing their perspectives about a Gay anchor and celebrity who has not disclosed this side of himself while covering topical GLBT stories that often talk about the consequences of staying silent. The suggestion that it’s bullying is inflammatory and disrespectful to those who have suffered at the hands of bullies.
Cam
@Mike: said…
“When I was in high school, other students would constantly ask me if I’m gay and harass me over it. I never came out to them because that was something personal and completely none of their business. ”
_________________________________
Cut the B.S. you didn’t come out to them because you knew if you did that they would pick on you even more. You aren’t talking to a group of straight women who don’t know what it’s like to be gay, you’re talking to a gay blog full of people that went through the same thing.
By claiming that your secuality is private and nobody’s business, you’ve bought into your own second class status. When Kiren Chetry, John Roberts, and Carol Costello can make comments about another co-worker and her husband, or Kiren’s husband having to care for the chilren at night because she goes to bed so early, are they sharing “Private Shameful Secrets?” No, of course not.
Tom
This would not be a bad time for Mr. Cooper to come out, though perhaps when something more dire (and no, I cannot right now imagine anything more dire than children committing suicide due to gendered bullying) presents itself on a bigger (i.e. international) stage (e.g. a-nother gay holocaust) when we might need him to declare then…?
mk
@Mark: Gay bullying stories aren’t about the consequences of gay kids being silent. They are more about the consequences of gay kids being out and/or noticeable and what schools can do to control the other kids better in that situation and prevent abuse.
Bullying isn’t even all that much about gay visibility in society since children of visible minority groups (the obese, the handicapped, identifiable religious and ethnic groups, etc.) have had a long history of being bullied and persecuted by assholes too and that still goes on.
Ian
Maybe he should just stay in the professional closet, as I think he has one thing exactly in common with George W. Bush. Both of them grew up in “bubble-worlds” of uber-priviledge, granted on opposite ends of the social/political spectrums, but both so uber-wealthy those around them were no doubt terrified to ever do anything against them as their parents could easily make sure the other kids parents would never be able to find work. Possibly Anderson simply can’t understand what it means to be a regular person and to give back to the larger society for all the things he was lucky enough to inherit. In his world one gives contributions in silence, but “public spectacles” (i.e. not being a social robot) is frowned upon.
jason
Anderson Cooper seems to be awfully reticent about his own personal experiences. Pity. Liberal closet-cases never did our movement any good….
suzygoo
The story is about the gay and lesbians who are killing themselves because of bullying, not about Anderson Cooper or Ellen or any other damn celebrity. Mourn, Grieve, Remember, Commit, take action to change the world and dream about the day when no one kills themselves for being who themselves. Put up a video on youtube on how it gets better. Folks need locals to come out!
gwenguy
Hey Check out The Loop-TV! The Loop-TV is a Nashville, TN based GLBT webseries. They have gone “Gaga” for October and have done their own take on Bad Romance/Teach me how to Dougie!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hnsvO6UN_0
Enjoy!
Hunter
lotta closet cases on queerty today huh?
STAY IN DA CLOSET ANDY, I LIKE IT IN HERE TOO.
Michelle
@Ian: Is there no element of personal choice anymore? Why are you attacking a man for making a different choice than you might have in the same situation? Very few of us know the struggles of being a gay celebrity in this hateful culture, so why not err on the side of empathy? He’s talking about the issue and trying to help kids. Why is he wrong for not being more radical? Don’t attack people who are trying to help – that just encourages more people not to try.
Ryan
@jason:
At least ‘liberal closet cases’ don’t go out of their way to work against the gay community like conservative closet cases.
Stratos
It’s Anderson’s choice whether or not to come out of the closet, to be honest, to be open. He’s made the choice to stay silent. I accept that, but I think much of him for it.
Stratos
That should read “I think much LESS of him for it.”
Soupy
Very good point Ryan! The only time I would feel comfortable outing someone would be a closet case that speaks out against gays.
Cam
I see all the little Cooperbots are on here negging any comment that would require their hero to show some sort of a backbone.
mulletkitty
He’s been covering gay bullying so intently these past weeks that it has produced a sort of “huh?” moment, and I too, have wondered about this. He relies on out gay celebrities to be talking heads and give him good material about their struggles as gay, struggles with bullying, coming out. And he nods intently and respectfully, “Thanks for the material, out gays!”
He may mistakenly think he can be of more good if he is seen as “objective.” (Note that he has no trouble calling out homophobes.) He may think being a vocal gay man hurts his reliability, but plenty reporters express outrage over homophobia or discrimination and are not be accused of ‘inserting themselves into the story.’ And he seemed to have no problems “inserting himself into the story” in Haiti, or New Orleans, where he was deeply emotionally involved in what he was covering, and this made his reporting compelling.
Yes, he could be a more effective advocate if he were out. Yes, he could do more good in the world if he were out. But it is still not my right to bully him out.
Anderson Cooper in the closet is not the reason gay kids are killing themselves.
WPHOMANS
@The Real Truth:
AMEN! Let the man alone. Everyone should be free to come out when and where and how they want. If there are any ethics whatsoever about being gay, that should be Tenet Number One.
Ian
@Michelle: @mulletkitty: I just wanted to say that while I do not agree with you on this particular issue, I do respect that your comments are well thought out and respectful to differing sides in tone.
Ian
@Cam: I’m starting to think that for conservatives Ann Coulter is their f@g-hag and Anderson Cooper is their closeted uber-rich dream man.
Gregg J
No entertainer, journalist, fireman, teacher, minister, etc. owes anyone any explanation on his or her sexual orientation. It’s no one else’s business. Such bullshit that people piss and moan about other people not coming out on a grand stand! Get a life of your own!
Hunter
It’s not that I need anyone to come out for my own personal satisfaction, it’s that I can not respect anyone who stays in the closet. I want to like Andersoon Cooper ( I actually want to love Anderson Cooper), but I just can’t respect him as a person when a topic comes so close to something he could personally relate to and he doesn’t say anything. Any other reporter of a minority group has the right to speak to that marginalized experience, which I’ve seen quite often on all the news channels… I just think it’s bullshit that his not coming out has to do with his ‘credibility’. gimme a break.
Aunty Dee
Let’s not forget his brother committed suicide at a young age as well. Factoring that in, I would personally NOT confuse the (already-murky) waters with a spattering of subjectivity… especially as there’s a LOT more subjectivity here for AC than just the gay thing.
Let’s not pick and choose, m’kay? I’d rather have an objective news anchor than someone who ladles the personal element on at any given opportunity: it’s cliched, gimmicky and a bit boring. It’s not like he’s lying either, or closeted: it’s a well-known fact about his personal life, and I commend him for having being an anchor/journalist/public face for this many years, without needing to come out.
Also, I must confess I find it a bit needlessly insulting to insinuate he’s been spineless. He’s a grown man, and has made the conscious decision to do what he is doing. To have people tell you how you should or shouldn’t be living your life, to better fit in with *their* agendas, isn’t that the general bully mandate? And why does it sound so familiar? You don’t agree, but it’s his call; he’s entitled to have a personal life as much as the next human being, and if it’s not what you want to hear, too bad, I guess.
Is this article’s angle *genuinely* coming for the best interests of the LGBTQABCDE community, or just for the journalistic opportunity that might arise from the outing, and subsequent (surely delicious) scandal?
Oh, sorry. I seem to be veering into the personal domain, where I clearly have no right to be airing speculative doubt. How inconsiderate.
Gary B.
Every gay person has to come out when and if they choose to. Judging people for not coming out might not be the same thing as homophobes judging gay people, but it’s still judging. As great it is for the LGBT community when public figures come out and use that to do some good, it’s still his personal choice when and if to come out and for what reasons. End of story as far as I’m concerned.
Mark
Anderson Cooper is pathetic.
A pathetic closet case.
I have no respect for him.
Black Pegasus
I like and respect Anderson Cooper, and you bitches need to back off! Anderson is kinda like myself and many other professional gay men in America; we are Ambiguously Gay! Meaning we don’t go thru alot to hide it, nor do we give you anything to Confirm it!
Why isn’t that good enough for some?
Anderson is a friend to the Gays. Why are some trying to isolate him and pressure him just to suit their our selfish agendas?
mikey683
Kim you said it yourself. It can be unprofessional to mix one’s personal and private lives. Obviously anderson Cooper understands this. do you hear Rachel Maddow talk about her personal life on her show? no. Just be glad there are still journalist who have any professional attitude at all.
rlsegura
Anderson has a cute laugh….
Webber
Ah, the career gays, always bitching on someone to come out. Maybe he lives his life as we all should – that is: gay is what we are, not who we are!
hephaestion
If Anderson Cooper goes to Saudi Arabia and screams out “I’m gay!” I do not believe he’d be tossed in jail, decapitated, or one bit less effective as a reporter there. Anderson, I do hope you’ll see that it’s time to speak out. You can save a lot of lives now.
4starmovie
Brave people have had their brains bashed in so that I can live my life openly. The least I can do is say thanks and honor them for allowing me to do so without hiding in the closet.
WillBFair
@rlsegura: Not to mention hot biceps, a good face, and silver mop.
WillBFair
@rlsegura: Actually, the laugh is like a girlish giggle, and so charming.
Nixx
Not disclosing his sexuality doesn’t make Anderson a liar or mean that he’s living a false life. What the fuck kind of entitled thing is that to even say? He doesn’t owe an explanation to anyone.
And anyway, most of his close friends and coworkers probably already know. Why does it matter if the average CNN viewer knows who he’s sleeping with and when?
dizzle
My goodness, so many gay apologists. I’m kind of shocked looking at the ‘like/dislike’ ratio of the comments. You guys, if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. Switzerland did NO ONE a favor by staying out of things. I don’t know why he won’t just come out. I would never out him, but given our climate he can’t NOT realize that he would have a tremendously positive influence. Think of all the Midwestern soccer moms who love this dude and tune in weekly. Think of the minds he can change.
I save outing for closeted Republican assholes who are actively working against us. It’s AC’s right to stay in the closet, but it’s not helping anyone.
Chuck
Can you imagine if all African Americans on tv only did so with a bag over their head to disguise their race? Millions of black kids would have less of a reason to believe that they could have a decent life in America. That is exactly what Anderson is doing. Heroes and examples matter. He further has no more excuse for staying closeted because he lives in the most gay friendly place on earth and has Vanderbilt money. And I for one find it very distasteful for Cooper to go to third world places and pose in a tight t that costs more than the people there make in a year just to show off his Chelsea muscles. Bad taste alert!
rrr
@dizzle: He’s not staying out of the anti-gay bullying issue like a Switzerland. He’s taking a stand against it and other bullying and giving them a lot of attention. He was just on Ellen giving a speech against the use of gay slurs. That is using his position to have a positive influence. There’s more than one way to skin a cat. If soccer moms start leaning on their kids to be less homophobic and bullying or they become more active about changing bullying policies, I don’t think kids who get the relief will be nitpicking over how they got it.
There’s a lot of closeted or glass closeted gays from news and entertainment I don’t see doing anything about the bullying deaths or taking any stands that are helpful to our movement. They could at least do something postitive but instead they are doing nothing. Queen Latifah is smiling happily in the “gay as an insult” scene in the movie trailer Ellen and Anderson were complaining about, and that’s sure not doing something helpful.
Lazycrockett
Judging from this site even if Anderson came out ya’ll would find another reason to hate him. Most of the comments pretty much say as much. He doesn’t want to be your Marshall at the next pride parade move on. Him and Ellen are doing more bout this bullying issue than anyone else besides Dan Savage. If he was truly a self hating closeted fag as so many are stating here, he wouldn’t be spending a week on this subject he would have run from it. One doesn’t need to hold a press conference to publicize ones sexuality. Being able to reach out to someone in a community for help and support is a lot more helpful to bullied gays than looking at a tv screen and seeing Ellen.
adam
@Ian:
Possibly Anderson simply can’t understand what it means to be a regular person and to give back to the larger society for all the things he was lucky enough to inherit.
So how do you explain all the other people in news who aren’t from the same privileged background, aren’t publicly out and aren’t even using broadcasts to attack gay bullying like Anderson Cooper?
Shepard Smith loves to talk about his humble southern beginnings. He’s not giving back. He’s staying year after year in the closet and on FOX News where he’s a part of our enemy.
The glass closet is a common industry practice. It’s not a practice special to blue blood Cooper.
ewe
Well in all honesty i did hear Anderson Cooper admit to being bullied during his covering on this topic. He essentially said ” i was bullied too”. And of course his own brother committed suicide which i have not heard him bring up during this particular issue on bullying but he does know how that effects the families. I have to give him a pass on this one. I would love to hear him come out and say he is an openly gay man, proud of it (which may or may not have taken him a long time to believe, i don’t know) and happily in a relationship with another man. But then again maybe Anderson Cooper is not proud about being himself in totality. Many people are not whether gay or straight. Who knows? He hasn’t said publicly. It is kind of like knowing someone and liking them but never really knowing them because they just don’t let you in. I can relate to that.
ewe
@adam: I agree with you about Shepard Smith. I do not like him. He would rather come off as the straight guy everyone knows sucks dick than admit he is emotionally a gay person in his mind. I hate him for that. It is selfish, irresponsible, extremely childish and completely shut down. Gay people need to take that enemy to task. He works for a vile homophobic cable network outlet and contributes openly to oppression.
ewe
@Ian: Thank you. Excellent observation. So true. These talking heads are not among the bullied. Let’s be very clear about that.
ewe
@declanto: there is nothing “ideal” about being an oppressed minority in this world.
ewe
@Lazycrockett: You got some nerve defining every other person other than Ellen D. and Anderson C. as not contributing. Some fucking nerve. You are completely off base to say such a thing. Mostly ALL grass roots assistance for GLBTQ people is done by the anonymous unknown gay person, NOT those two extremely fortunate people.
Paul
I am amazed at the amount of bullying Queerty does to Anderson, you are obsessed with this man. Contrary to what you believe, reporting like this IS bullying. Stop trying to ruin peoples lives for your gain. Be supportive of gay people and stop trying to drag people out of the closet. “Humankind” be both!
AdonisOfFire
Guuuuurl you so deep in the closet you having adventures in Narnia
Elliot
@No. 55 · hephaestion – it appeared he took his then-boyfriend on a vacation to Egypt. Isn’t that in Saudi Arabia? No, he didn’t scream with words he is gay, but I’m assuming they stayed in the same hotel room…….
CONVERSATION CHAMBER
This entire article is a self-righteous crock of shit, IMO. You have no idea what the “eight year old Anderson” experienced (or felt). People come out when they are damn good and ready; there is no general rule, time limit, or “responsibility” attached to this. Furthermore, I cannot stand when people try to sanctimoniously throw gay youth in the faces of rumored-to-be closeted (or tell-selective) celebrities as another way to patronize them into feeding peoples desire to know their business. Don’t put those teenage suicides off on Anderson Cooper (Wentworth Miller, or your favorite…Matt Bomer) because he hasn’t put the answers to the question of his (homo)sexuality on the front burner to be lapped up by star-crazed bloggers looking for a headline to exploit. They all had parents. Every time I hear someone get on that “think of the children!” perch, my mind automatically hearkens back to this BRILLIANT anti-PSA from the early 90s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMzdAZ3TjCA
Stop being nosy. From the looks of it, Anderson Cooper would rather the general public see him as a reporter, whose sexuality is irrelevant. Fine by me.
Tony
Yes, if Anderson would just come out, all would be right with the world.
Come out? Just who is it that doesn’t know Anderson Cooper is gay? He leads an openly gay life with his boyfriend in New York City. What do you want, a billboard in Times Square?
Leave the man alone.
Cam
@Tony:
Oh Give me a break with this “Who doesn’t know he’s gay?”
Um…..most of his hetro audience. That was the same B.S. that Rosie O’Donnell’s folks used to spew. “Come on, nobody thought Rosie was straight or that she really loved Tom Cruise.”
Yeah they did.
The fact is, the large part of his audience that don’t know he is gay most likely have a lack of positive gay role models to look at when their kids end up comming out of the closet. The people who DO know he’s gay see that he considers it something shameful to hide.
Just today, on his same network, during the report on the no hitter pitched by the Phillies, the reporter said that “My husband isn’t a Phillies fan so of course he’s grumbling.”
Did she strip her private life naked before the viewers? Was this a shocking revelation that should have been kept private? No, she was being a normal person as most other newscasters are. Cooper’s audience is abandoning his show, it isn’t as if coming out could hurt his ratings. He’s already getting clobbered by some show on MSNBC that isn’t even a month old.
dizzle
sorry guys, cut the crap. Study after study, the thing that pushes our rights forward most is GAY VISIBILITY. Even without the spate of suicides, he should come out. It’s THAT much more difficult to think you can deny us rights when someone you know is gay, or watch weekly and have a crush on them.
No excuse. There is not a more important time.
Ray
I really appreciate that there are out celebrities and out role models for younger queer-identified individuals today. It certainly can only be a positive thing for everyone, gay or not, young or old.
But it’s not enough to just show shining examples of openly out adults living their full life.
When someone is young, disenfranchised and scared/depressed/suicidal, we need to stop talking about how great it will someday be and take a moment to actually listen abou their struggle in the now. This is not about what can be. It’s about what’s going on right this moment and to validate that experience. We need to offer more resources beyond “it gets better.” That’s a great statement to make and I truly love this project… but it begets the question: HOW does it get better? This is what we needs to help answer to as well.
Gay suicide among the younger members in our society does not stem from Anderson Cooper not being out. Let’s not get our logic twisted. Nor does the betterment of “the community” rest on his shoulders alone. A completely ludicrous sentiment.
We all play a role in this. If you feel he isn’t doing his part. Then so be it – call it cowardice, stupidity, what have you. But what are YOU doing to contribute to a better world? Share that story instead, please. Because that’s certainly a lot more interesting than a closeted cable news anchor… and hopefully a lot more helpful to the very segment of our community you claim to want to help.
doug
But there are more nationally known newscasters than just Anderson Cooper, he is on a cable network, there are nationally known lesbian news reporters on broadcast networks that covered the subject matter as well. i just watched an entire segment today from this newscaster. Should she be singled out by gay media and outed. She has attended our events with her long term lover, and done “gay” prolific events. Why is that we single out Anderson? I would like them all to come out, but truth is they report news and shouldn’t be making it…
declanto
@Ian: Still, we make or break our own karm. HIS choice. Not ours. There’s millions of us out here, I mean OUT here. Who made our choices? If you made that choice yourself, Hurrah and splendid for you. If you had some stranger make that decision for you, sorry. My condolences. You and I and everybody on this fucked-up planet have a right to be empowered to decide your own fate. The herd instinct is for sheep…maybe not for sheep with lipstick.@ewe: Ewe,are you a sheep with lipstick? Your choice. Read carefully. I said nothing idealizing any oppressed minority.
Will Reynolds
I want to do what a few of you guys do for a living that allows you to blog all day – jesus. No one owes us an explanation of his or her personal life, no one. Move on please, topic is tedious. The same small group of stars/journalists that queerty bullies to come out regulary are not going to come out because of blog comments that a few blog crawlers (myself included) read. If it makes you feel better to rage than good for you, but they don’t care and rightfully so.
WPHOMANS
I am a public figure, an international recording and performing artist. My professional name is Watermelon Slim. Google me up.
I am working in one of the most heretofore heterosexual jobs in America, though there have been at least a handful of blues singers who have been or are GLBT. I have a historically significant career in music. It is my intention to not confuse people, and by coming out fully and (moderately) aggressively, go from being the noted blues musician to “that harp player who said he was bisexual” in musical history.
Thus, as a public figure, I can well understand Anderson Cooper’s judgment not to give any play whatsoever to public comment about his sexuality. Look what just happened to British Foreign Secretary William Hague, and the aide he shared a hotel room with several times! Hague’s still on the job, and the scandal seems to have blown over. But a weaker man might have abdicated his position under such pressure.
Leave Cooper alone.
craig
Anderson Cooper and Lady Gaga and Ellen are doing more to swing sensible minded people to the cause of equality than all the competing gay rights groups in DC.
Everyone knows he is gay, so why must he come screaming out and alert the World? I just don’t get it. He seems to have such a positive approval rating – esp. from straight women. Let him come OUT when he wants to come OUT people.
The very fact that he has devoted so much time to bullying on his show is a great way to educate the masses..something he has been doing all week.
Baxter
@mk: As someone who was bullied at that “liberal, arts celebrating, mainly jewish private school” and saw many other people bullied there, that’s a load of BS. There’s bullying at every school. Hell, there’s bullying in the adult world too. You learn to deal with it and move on with your life.
declanto
http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/06/targeted-student-given-recent-suicides-its-hard-not-to-say-something/?hpt=T2 AC speaks out.
declanto
Now shut up and leave him alone to get on with his extremely meaningful life.
Cam
@WPHOMANS:
Oh yeah, your job is so much more difficult than the guy working on a road crew in Alabama who has come out to his co-workers, or the high school student who has come out.
As for the little Cooper fans that keep saying “Everybody knows he’s gay” Oh Really? Well then why do you keep screaming at us to stop asking him to come out? I mean, if EVERYBODY knows it, then it shouldn’t be a problem now should it?
scottyhouston
@The Real Truth: I couldn’t agree with you more!! Tired of the militant gays trying to out people just for their social amusement and stories to tell at the bars! Lame! I totally support Anderson to make the choices for himself and if he doesn’t want to come out, fine with me. If he were gay bashing inside his reports, that’s another story but it couldn’t be further from the truth.
Ian
@declanto: “AC speaks out”
Um, no. The U Of M college student spoke out about the harassment he faced, Cooper was merely reporting in his usual blank-slate manner on all subjects gay as usual.
Ian
@Cam: I think it’s become obvious to me that Cooper’s apologists seem to idealize him in a fan(atic)-think type manner. Not only will they defend his hiding behind his on-air closet door, they will be willing to board up that door from the outside and post sentries, due to their unfettered adoration. I really don’t think that a fan(atic) is capable of seeing a forest for the trees argument in terms of this discussion of how closeted celebs contribute to the sense of shame of being gay and can actually embolden bullies by not being out and willing to be counted.
tm
This is going to be pointless, but i’ll give it a shot anyway:
You gay people really make me sick because you are the worst bullies of all! Constantly trying to force Anderson to “come out already” when he’s not even in the closet.
If you had brains in your head rather than your dick, maybe you would realize some day that there are straight men who are terrified of women. They are called “Loveshys”. What all these men have in common is that they are very much attracted to women but too afraid to interact with them. They also have in common that they often appear “gay” because they are more feminized than the average “mucho” guy. That also means that they do not have many interests in common with straight guys (such as violent sports) which is why they prefer to hang out with gays.
Just because Anderson is never seen with women and often seen hanging out with a gay friend doesn’t make him gay. Riding a bike together or going to the gym together with a same-sex person doesn’t mean they have sex together.
Maybe if you would get your brain out of somebody else’s ass for just a few minutes and do some research on the subject, you would see how ludicrous your attempts are to get Anderson to come out of the closet. Anderson CANNOT come out of the closet because he’s never been in one!!!
And even if you’re too dumb or too lazy to do any research and don’t believe what i said, it’s still HIS life and HIS choice and not yours. So back off and leave the poor guy alone!!!
ron
@tm: You’ve got to be kidding, right?! That’s just about the stupidest thing I’ve read today…..
Ian
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHmvkRoEowc
Switch the gender pronouns and name to Anderson Cooper and I feel this video captures the gist of many of the Cooper apologists comments that I have been reading here today, and their fan(atic) adoration not enabling them to see how in some ways he actually hurts the gay community from his glass closet.
Sam
I’m lost as to why anyone thinks Anderson needs to come out, when he is out to his co-workers, friends and family. Does he need to do a People magazine cover like Lance Bass and every other queen desperate for some publicity?
And if the general public doesn’t know, when he has done New Year’s specials camping it up with Kathy Griffin and Lady Gaga, what would further comment accomplish?
robert in nyc
No. 12, Declanto, straights don’t have to declare anything. They have their equality automatically once they come out of the womb and their lives are not described as a “lifestyle” when they reach adulthood, but ours are, as if we choose who we are. You never hear anyone describing the lives of straights as the “straight lifestyle”. They don’t suffer the same discrimination that we suffer, they never have if they happen to be white. Even now that blacks have their civil rights equality, they’re still disciminated against in some ways, but we as a group are on the receiving end of it by more than any other minority in this country. We don’t have any semblance of equality, DADT still legal, no ENDA passed, DOMA still legal in 30 states. Cooper could do a lot of good by coming out. I wonder how he’d respond if he were fired for being gay, deny it? I wonder if he votes republican?
Ray
@Ian: Come on, buddy. There a very few folks here claiming that AC staying in the closet is actually better than him coming out. And practically no one is saying that out public figures aren’t a good thing for this world.
Many of us just don’t see this as “the answer” to helping queer young people not feel scared/depressed/disenfranchised, which is what this article was calling for.
Anderson not declaring his sexuality publicly is not destroying this community! At best it’s just him wanting to separate his public life from his private life. At worst it’s an example of his lack of courage to be his full self. So what? That is the choice he has made and he will live with it.
Again, if you want to talk about REAL RESOURCES to offer those who are on the fringes of our communities, then let’s talk about REAL RESOURCES.
– Where are mentoring programs for queer young people?
– What about a list of suicide hotlines from local to national services?
– Can we help form parenting tutorial programs in our local communities?
– How about broadening the scope of what we mean by “gay” to include lesbians, bisexual, intersex and trans folks… people of color… immigrant communities… people who don’t come from wealth?
– Can the voices of queer youth, the very part of our community we are spotlighting right now, be a part of this conversation/solution? How do we service them by making sure that a seat is at the table for them to express their needs?
– Can celebrities, gay or not, young and old, step up beyond just making a YouTube video and actually fundraise, work with established resources and continue to draw attention to this very real issue LONG PAST when the headlines no longer appear in our newspapers?
Anderson Cooper coming out? I’m all for it. But right now, that just doesn’t seem like it’s a really productive conversation to have.
Hilarious
One minute we’re supposedly fighting against bullies and the next the same group of assholes turns and starts calling someone else gay and demanding he come out of the closet.
Hypocritical much?
This is what the bullies did to drive gay teens to suicide you fucking morons.
Now you’re doing it and claiming moral superiority because it’s somehow a crime for Anderson Cooper not to tell the whole world his business.
Get a life.
Ian
@Hilarious: Um, we are collectively discussing what this article above is actually ABOUT. Did you not read it?
Bryce
Seems to me that some Queerty readers are bullying Anderson to come out.
What ever happened to Live and Let Live?
You are giving Anderson Cooper an awfully lot of power if you think whether or not he is out is very important. I wonder what your real issue is.
Hilarious
@Ian: My comment happens to be very similar to one of your own.
Did you read it?
David Ehrenstein
@robert in nyc: Good point, Robert. “It’s his choice” is just another version of Fundie claims that gayness itself is a “choice.” Straights, for some reason, never have to make a “choice” at all. Why is that?
Anderson Cooper’s glass closet ( so transparent that Queerty even posted pictures of him and his boyfriend Ben chattign aitht the Seinfelds at an Oscar party) has been a source of amusement/annoyance in the past. But now it’s reachign critical mass. How can he do so much coverage of homophobic bullying without mentioning the fact that he’s gay himsef? I don’t recall any stories of his being bullied for anything. But whether he was or not is beside the point. He’s an intelligent well-spoken man and could “speak from the heart” about this if he wanted to. The notion that a CNN contract prevents him is ridiculous not just froma legal standpoint but because CNN’s Thomas Roberts is out and has been for years.
Obviously coming out as a kind of “ratings gimmick” would be grotesque. But it’s quite frustrating to see him deal with this story this way and NOT make it personal.
Incidentally I hope I’m not alone in recallign the incident a number of years back when he was interviewing Jerry Falwell, became enraged by Falwell’s homophobia and said — quite clearly “We pay taxes!” Then just few hours later he claimed he’d say “THEY pay taxes.” The video (which I think you can still find on You Tube) showed otherwise.
And yes it’s rather remarkable that he can talk so freely about his brother’s tragic suicide — the on exceptionally personal thing that I would say he has no reason to talk about with anyne if he doesn’t want to — and yet pointedly backs away from Teh Ghey in reagrd to himself.
Ian
@Bryce: I actually agree that the original article could have been expanded to include the likes of Shepard Smith in the news industry, or Queen Latifah & Jodie Foster in the entertainment industry to be more well-rounded, etc. But boiling it down the story and discussion here is still that closeted celebs CAN contribute societally to the sense of shame of being gay and can actually embolden bullies by not being out and willing to be counted as part of the community as an elder to the gay teens in need, as we are unique in being the only minority that are not largely biologically related.
scottyhouston
@Hilarious: I’m with Hilarious on this. There is nothing and I mean NOTHING that says someone has to come out. The coming out process is a personal matter and if someone chooses to come out it should be on their own terms. Not on “National Coming Out Day”, not because this blog says they should, not because this TRASH story above on a crap website says they should. Anderson is doing NOTHING wrong and is not bashing gays and then saying he’s not gay. He’s doing what he can for gays while trying to respect his boundaries as a high profile individual. I agree that if he chose to come out, it would be a good thing, but I’m not bashing the guy because he chooses not to right now.
I swear as an openly gay man who has been out my whole life, I get tired of all you militant, hypocritical gays shoving this crap down people’s throats. Like I said earlier, you bitchy queens just want something to bitch about in the bars over happy hour!
Ian
@Hilarious: Wow, how very, “I know you are but what am I” type of response. Not really contributing to the discussion there friend when one starts to resort to a p***-match. Well you can have the last word in another post and insult me again I guess, as you are one poster I will not be responding to again on this thread. Peace~
Hilarious
@Ian: Read to total garbage you just posted.
If you actually believe of a word of it you have serious problems.
“closeted celebs CAN contribute societally to the sense of shame of being gay and can actually embolden bullies by not being out and willing to be counted as part of the community as an elder to the gay teens in need”
Get. A. Life.
No seriously.
That was some of the most idiotic drivel ever posted on Queerty.
Hilarious
@Ian: Coming from the asshole who said Anderson Cooper is emboldening bullies to drive gay teens to commit suicide your tears and whining mean absolutely nothing to me.
I insulted you because you deserve it.
You insinuated that it’s somehow Anderson Cooper’s(among other “closeted” gay celebs) fault that gay teens have been committing suicide and you have the nerve to cry because I insulted YOU?
You really are all about YOU huh?
Good thing the rest of us are not about YOU and it’s not YOUR world where YOU get everything YOU want.
Ian
@David Ehrenstein: I often wonder if that critical mass moment will be like at the end of “The China Syndrome” and Cooper gets ticked at a fundie and just FINALLY gets it out there.
Kieran
When and whether Anderson Cooper decides to tell his “personal story” on air is a decision for him alone to make. I don’t want to see any gay person bullied or forced into coming out publicly. I do find it interesting though how we’re focusing on Cooper’s case while Shepherd Smith over at Fox News gets a pass.
Ian
@Kieran: Hasn’t Shep once or twice almost outed himself over there over the years? I seem to recall him making an amusing gaff by accidentally saying “blow-job” once.
TJ
You guys are all dumb and annoying. Leave him the F*** alone. Queerty can be so F***ing annoying sometimes. So many stupid opinions so often.
mark
Anderson…if you want to be closeted
do it BETTER
L
As you’re all so concerned about what effect Anderson coming out or not coming out will have on gay kids, (I personally think Anderson coming out will definitely solve most of the homophobia against gay youth) how about what effect you have on them?
I imagine reading all this bullying and disgust aimed at nice people who you happen to think are not out enough is not going to make kids who are scared to tell anyone they’re gay feel like they have some support. And it’s not going to make them feel like they can be sure gay people at least might understand and won’t try to make them feel bad about themselves for not taking their “responsibility” or even try to out them.
Now their situations of course are not entirely the same. But there are often comments made in these sorts of threads about nice but closeted people that could apply to them too, that could be taken personally.
In addition to that, if you think kids will think AC is ashamed of being gay, being a man who highlights LGBT-issues on his news show, who looks perfectly happy living a gay life with his gay boyfriend, who is by all accounts out to his friends, family and co-workers, who does not beard or try to act straight, and who has stated his reasons for not discussing his dating life which have nothing to do with anything homophobic, then drawing these conclusions from the way Cooper gets nagged for being silent on the subject would be perfectly logical way of reasoning for them too. More so, actually.
tm
@ #102: “I get tired of all you militant, hypocritical gays shoving this crap down people’s throats. Like I said earlier, you bitchy queens just want something to bitch about in the bars over happy hour!”
AMEN, brother!!!
Cam
The thing that makes it so obvious that the fans of Cooper are not looking at this through a normal lens but rather through the lens of little fanboys and fangirls is the sheer anger they have that anybody would dare suggest he should come out.
Yeah, he’s an over 40 famous multi, multi millionaire with nothing to lose whatoever. Yeah, he’s so brave to take a personal stand to continue hiding in the closet. If he was half black I suppose that you folks would be saying that it was bullying for black groups to ask him to stop hiding the black side of his family.
Siiigh, I hope all of you are enjoying reveling in your second class status, you are part of the problem.
Sam
Cam, he IS out. How hard is that for you to understand?
Ben S
God the age old queerty regulars ragging on one of the 5 usual suspects to come out. You guys need get a man or at least get a life of your own – you wouldn’t be so preoccupied with other’s lives. His life is his life. I’ve been out for 20 years but when I see this gay ragging it makes me ashamed. Re-read the entire thread – it’s like either 12 year old girls or 80 year old sisters bickering. Tragic.
WPHOMANS
@Cam:
I’m a retired trucker and sawmill laborer. I know real well about declining to be gay at work, even though I am aomething way beyond “butch”. There’s hard, and then there’s hard. Now, you are pointing to the jobs of a seasoned road worker– the twink of the crew, let’s say, lol– or a kid flipping burgers being hard because they get sniped at, annd must undergo an interminable process of achieving respect.
Well, that’s true. Ignorant people axt out ignorantly. My neck gets as red as the next fellow’s, and experience has told me, over 40-some years of working life, that the social downsides of being gay at labor jobs outweigh the personal self-image enhancement. I don’t like fighting with people. Maybe Anderson Cooper is so ice-cool inside that he never felt like fighting with people who called him “QUEER”, but that never went past with me.
The difficulty of my job is different: I have a legacy, a discography, a career as an international cultural ambassador. I have to be careful of message. The worst thing for an ambassador (I’ve been to 25 countries in the last 6 years entertaining) is for people to be confused about his/her message. I am completely on record as a lifelong member of the LGBT community in the several hours of videotapes that are part of my exhibit at the Smithsonian. I’m as out, for the record, as I can be.
But I don’t live my public life talking about it, or, as here, gossiping about it, or worse, about the sexuality of other public figures. I have been more public on GLBT civil rights issues in the time since the Log Cabin Republicans engineered the recent legislative defeat than at any time since I was a young all-around political activist in the 1970s.
Fine looking man, ain’t he?? LOL.
L.J.
I could care less whether Anderson Cooper is out or not, but it is interesting to see how this topic pushes so many people’s buttons. Whenever he’s mentioned on this website, it seems that the comments abound.
Not relevant, but there is a stunning photo portrait of Mummy on the cover of the current Town & Country magazine.
Ian
I think someone on these boards has not grabbed onto the concept of acceptable statistical variance and that others can notice it. I noticed that three or so of my later responses all have a negative variance of 6, along with two other posters who have more or less the same opinion as I also have a negative variance by 6. Then I notice the same almost impossible variance of three people of the opposite opinion having the same variance but positive by 6.
This means by probability that there was one person with an obsessive streak for Anderson Cooper and gamed the thumbs up & down system by either going to six different computers or being more savvy & bypassing the system Queerty has set up.
One way or another it merely proves the point that this person needs to get a life, get some fresh air, etc. (sheesh)
Dave
@Bryce: I agree with your point about the bestowed power.
And, I think at least one factor in the “real issue” as you put it, must be envy.
ewe
@declanto: I know. That is exactly the reason i replied to you the way i did. Please refrain from insulting me. Your lame attempts at it truly suck.
David Ehrenstein
@Kieran: Shep Smith got no pass whatsoever in the film Outrage. He — like Chrlie Crist — was read like the telephone directory.
@Sam: It’s hard to understand that he’s out when he’s in, Sam.
My particular annoynace with himstems from the fact that he’s a really good journalist. He should have had this settled and done with eons ago. Instead it hivers over his reporting of gay issues — as if his sexuality were an embrassment to him. Really he ought to treat himself better than this.
Hilarious
@Ian: Says the idiot with how many obsessive compulsive replies to this article?
Yeah no way 6 people could possibly disagree with you, someone must have “gamed the system”.
Amusing how much you care. Have fun losing sleep over it.
declanto
@Ian: Right, I was a bit hasty posting that. My apologies. Meanwhile, enjoy your own meaningful existence to the fullest, considering our condition. Don’t get mad, get equal.
Cam
@Sam: Said..
“Cam, he IS out. How hard is that for you to understand?”
__________________________________
You are a liar. If he is out, then why are you all getting so horrified that we are saying he should be out? If he was publically out, this discussion wouldn’t be happening.
Derek
Over ten thousand views!
No wonder Queerty loves Anderson Cooper so much.
declanto
@ewe: Pardon my poor attempt at humor in such a serious forum.
declanto
@Derek: “over 10,000 views!” and only now getting to the snipey parts where somebody has to get all personal. ewe, get a life. why would I bother to insult you?
Frederick Carter
First, let me say that I have the utmost respect for Anderson Cooper as a professional television reporter. Having said that, I do agree that this would be the perfect time for Anderson to publicly come out. I only say this because I think the more well-respected and well-known people who publicly come out, the more openly gay role-models there are for LGBT kids to look up to and aspire to be like. This also helps tremendously to help change the general public’s misperceptions and stereotypes about the LGBT community at large. So Anderson could accomplish two extremely important objectives for LGBT kids and the community at large by publicly coming out: first, become a role model for LGBT kids as an openly gay man who is very successful & respected in his profession; second, help to break misperceptions/stereotypes for the LGBT community at large. So go for it, Anderson…it could do so much for our community!
Jake
News story for you Anderson: Your slickly produced, silver spoon personality isn’t very objective. You may strip down to your t-shirt in Africa or Haiti from time to time but you come back to your New York studio and you pose puff questions to interviewees like all the other cable “news” people.
He tells his friends that he must stay closeted to remain an “objective journalist” and in so doing he means to paint all openly queer journalists as non-objective, agenda-pushing activist queers.
Anderson Cooper is a coward.
declanto
@Jake: he means to paint all openly queer journalists as non-objective, agenda-pushing activist queers.
Quite a stretchy imagination there, Jake. You’re so obviously packing your own agenda you could hardly be called objective. Do I detect a little class envy there?
Tonic
Anderson simply acknowledging that he is gay would do a great deal of good. It doesn’t have to be on PEOPLE mag or 20/20 or whatever. It’s strange to see him talking about bullying and then still promoting a sense of shame by keeping all any comments of him as a gay man off-limits. Sure, it’s all up to him as to when and how he comes out, etc… but his tactic definitely knocks down any respect I would have had for him.
Hmm…he’s richer than sin and is on the highest level tier in his career. What does he stand to lose? Defend him all you want, but it’s just sad that he’s choosing to live this way.
TheInsider
Cooper can hold all the townhall meetings he wants, be on all the shows he can book himself into, and interview celebrities. BUT: none of the bullies, or the victims, will watch him until they find something to relate to him. And what would that be? To COME OUT and be the example of someone who is out, proud and successful in life and in work. But he won’t do it. He tip-toes around the issue, he skirts it, and tries to pretend he is a neutral observer. Well, once you start going down the activist path, like he has, it is only fair that he share his life experience with those who could benefit the most from it: the same kids he is trying to reach. Until then Mr. Cooper, you don’t have my respects.
SageLinear
If he wants to be candid about his sexual orientation, more power to him. If he doesn’t, then that’s his right…and it takes a very ARROGANT spectator to sit on the sidelines and say “well, until he does, he won’t have my respect.” Get a life and stop looking to public figures like Anderson Cooper revealing their homosexuality to validate your own.
jason
Liberals in the media only embrace us when we get bashed. It’s a case of “oh, you poor bashed gay guys, we feel so sorry for you, we know it was those mean conservatives who did this to you”. Think “politically useful pity class” and you’ll get the gist of how liberals truly treat us.
In a nuthsll, liberals don’t truly care about us. Liberals suck. Andersoon Cooper, as a liberal, sucks.
Soupy
Ah, I see. And conservatives?
Laura
I find it ironic that the person who posted this topic, based on bullying is now bullying Anderson to come out of the closet because, it would make (you) feel more secure and better about (yourself). Your a hypocrite! and you should be ashamed of yourself. Why in the world do Anderson Cooper need to announce his sexual preference to the world? that is a personal decision and one that should not be taken lately. You are worse then that tabloid monkey Perez Hilton. Anderson Cooper doesn’t owe this so-called-gay community anything, not one damn thing. Be thankful that he is at least discussing topics that cater to the gay community. You don’t see heterosexuals openly acknowledging their sexual preference at any given moment. This need to proclaim ones sexual status is becoming ridiculous if not stupid. The whole idea of gays outing other gays just to make themselves feel better and justifying their (your) actions by stating it’s for the empowerment of the whole gay community is just silly if not dangerous for those wish to have anonymity.
Laura
@jason: get over yourself! Anderson doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. You poor, poor gays… Boo hoo wipe away another piss pitty tear. Boo hoo, Anderson Cooper won’t come out of the closet-Boohoo! My life will never be the same. Your so self-absorbed its almost pathetic.
adam
@David Ehrenstein:
Shep Smith got no pass whatsoever in the film Outrage. He — like Chrlie Crist — was read like the telephone directory.
That’s the only time Shepard’s had something like that, and the the only reports I saw from the screening with gay media hosted by the creators that mentioned Shep did so just to talk about Anderson. Larry Kramer had demanded of the creators why Shep was in the film instead of Anderson so Anderson could be outed for the billionth time. He still tried to argue for it after they pointed out that Shep at FOX News fit the theme of the documentary while Anderson at CNN doesn’t at all. Larry’s remarks were reported in some articles and that’s the closest I saw to gay media discussion of Shep being in the film.
Anderson is the only gay in TV news that gets pressured to come out. It’s obsessive, irrational and disproportionate. Any of them could provide out role models, and the relative lack of racial minority out gay role models should make the minority TV news gays particularly desirable ones to have. Anderson doesn’t have the highest ratings of the potential candidates and for years he’s been demonstrating a high resiliance under the pressure that some of the others might not possess.
Role models don’t have to be white Vanderbilts, people.
robert in nyc
Laura, No. 135…you said….”You don’t see heterosexuals openly acknowledging their sexual preference at any given moment.”
My dear, heterosexuals don’t have to do it because all of their rights are birth rights, automatically guaranteed as soon as they take their first breath of life. They’re not denied anything based on who they sleep with, whereas we are. They take everything for granted and they’re not the slighest bit interested in our having the same rights as they do, they’ve never had to question anything. That’s a huge difference and reason enough for more positive gay role models to come out, let society see who we really are. All that society knows are the stereotypes, mostly the effeminate variety as if that typifies who we are, not that there’s anything wrong with effeminacy in any way. If we had the same rights, we wouldn’t have to feel the urgency to insist that someone comes out for the sake of it. Full equality enables more people to lose their fear and eventually helps them come out into the open. It sends a positive message that we can be just like our straight counterparts in every walk of life and in some cases better. After all, we’re not all fashion designers, hair stylists, cosmeticians, interior designers/decorators, choreographers, the professions that society often pigeon holes us into. We’re your doctor, lawyer, police man or woman, scientist, newscaster,construction worker; we serve in the military and have to lie about it who we are, we don’t have any protection in employment and the delivery of goods and services, we’re forbidden to marry in 45 states. The list is endless. That’s why its important for people like Cooper et al to come out. Let society see that we’re just as diverse as they are. It makes a positive statement that we deserve the same rights as everybody else without exception.
Derek
Over 12,000+ reads, and rising.
One way or the other, the gays are passionate about Anderson Cooper.
scottyhouston
@Frederick Carter: Oh please, give me a break. It still boils down to the fact that it’s a personal choice to come out. Not to mention, just how many teenagers are watching Anderson Cooper anyway? Hell, half of them probably don’t even know who he is. I’m sick of everyone thinking that just because someone on TV, in the movies, etc. has to come out because they’re visible. He has his own reason for not coming out and it’s no ones business. If he were gay bashing or covering stories and making comments about anti-gay issues then that’s another story.
WPHOMANS
@robert in nyc:
And that’s why you ought to relize that the Log Cabin Republicans betrayed you when they ensured that DADT, which would only have affected a small subset of gays– those who wanted to join, or stay in, the service– went to the Senate floor before comprehensive gay-unions legislation, which would have achieved cloture and passing with moderately little controversy.
The LGBT civil-rights movement has been set back for years with their shrewd dirty political trick. Robert, if you’re interested in the fates, and the rights, of all those professions of people you mentioned, you’ll be sure that these Republicans-in-faux-gay-clothing are not part of the movement toward LGBT rights, because they betrayed us in this case, and they’ll do it again and again. There will now be no GLBT legislation brought to the floor before at least Obama’s next term.
You BETTER not vote Republican, cause if you do you’re as much a traitor to all GLBT people as these profoundly conflicted LCRs are!
Ivan
I’ve never had a problem with public figures not stating their sexuality. Anderson has never claimed he’s str8. He’s never publicly ‘dated’ a woman. There’s no story here.
Sam
No one is trying to be pushing him out of a closet, he’s already out! He just hasn’t sat there on CNN and said to the camera “I’m gay”. However, a lot of people would like it if when interviewing or reporting about events happening to LGBT people he wouldn’t pretend he had no idea of the life they might be living.
CPETER
@David Ehrenstein: Who says any celebrity needs to come out? I would prefer that people find something else to do with their lives than worry about the private lives of people whose jobs happen to involve cameras and scripts.
The funniest thing is when AC is blamed for not getting emotional and aggressive. AC just happens to be one of the last of the PROFESSIONAL journalists; he understands that the story is what he reports on, not what he gets involved with. Most newspeople (they are NOT journalists) are just dispensing their own biases and ignoring the facts.
Watch him for what he does, not for who he is, and don’t try to force him to live up to YOUR standards–you just don’t have that right. Isn’t that what straights have done to us for centuries? Isn’t that bullying?