Anderson Cooper, who has always been reluctant to talk about his personal life, has finally confirmed that he is gay.
"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 writes in an open letter.
The CNN reporter and son of Gloria Vanderbilt, who had been long rumored to be gay, said he had kept his sexual orientation private for professional reasons but now believed that remaining silent had given some people the impression that he was ashamed.
"Even though my job puts me in the public eye, I have tried to maintain some level of privacy in my life," he explains. "I've also wanted to retain some privacy for professional reasons. 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."
"But 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. There continue to be far too many incidences of bullying of young people, as well as discrimination and violence against people of all ages, based on their sexual orientation, and I believe there is value in making clear where I stand."
"I still consider myself a reserved person and I hope this doesn't mean an end to a small amount of personal space. I do think visibility is important, more important than preserving my reporter's shield of privacy."
"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 'the gay question,' which happens occasionally."
Anderson Cooper, who has always been reluctant to talk about his personal life, has finally confirmed that he is gay.
