CNN’s Anderson Cooper confirms he is gay
The background
CNN presenter and war correspondent Anderson Cooper confirmed he is gay in an email to The Daily Beast’s Andrew Sullivan. Cooper’s personal life has been the subject of speculation and innuendo for many years; his decision to come out to the public after years of silence on the subject has sparked a fierce debate over whether gay celebrities have a moral obligation to reveal their sexual identity.
What Anderson Cooper said: ‘The fact is, I’m gay’
“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,” wrote Cooper in the email to The Daily Beast’s Andrew Sullivan. However, Cooper said, he had become concerned that by maintaining his privacy, he was giving the impression that he was “trying to hide something”, which simply is not true. “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,” Cooper wrote.
Anderson Cooper thanked Twitter users for their support following his announcement.
I appreciate all the nice tweets. I am in Botswana working but want to wish everyone a great 4th of July!
— Anderson Cooper (@andersoncooper) July 3, 2012
Sexual identity is not private
“Sexual identity isn’t private. It’s a characteristic as intrinsic as race and should be treated accordingly,” said Louis Peitzman at Gawker. Celebrities may cite “right to privacy” as a reason for not coming out to the public, but this is misguided: “The right to privacy, no matter how noble a concept in origin, automatically implies some level of guilt, embarrassment, and shame.”
Was Cooper bullied into coming out?
According to Tim Stanley in The Telegraph, Cooper may have been “bullied” into coming out, after years of innuendo - and if so, this is very unfair, and does not take into account the rights of the individual. “It’s great that we live in a post-1950s world where people feel comfortable about sharing their private lives if they want to. But an equally important right is the freedom to keep the bedroom curtains tightly drawn,” Stanley wrote. “Privacy is part of human dignity.”
Coming out at work for non-celebrities
“In a survey of gay employees conducted in 2011, the Center for Talent and Innovation found that about half of respondents were closeted at work,” reported Kate Dailey for the BBC. In the US, part of the problem is that 29 states allow termination of employment on the grounds of sexual orientation, a Human Rights Campaign spokesman told the BBC. But in the UK, where employment discrimination on the grounds of sexual identity is against the law, homophobia in the workplace persists. “Our survey found that 800,000 people in the workplace witnessed physical homophobic violence,” said Stonewall director Colleen Humphrey.
