NEWSAnderson Cooper: "I Came Out in High School, Everyone Knew I Was Gay"
Sept. 10 2012, Published 8:02 a.m. ET
Anderson Cooper told the world he was gay this summer, but the talk show host swears everyone in his inner circle knew about his sexuality for many years.
“Everybody in my life has always known… you know, I came out in high school," he said during the premiere of his daytime talk show, Anderson. "I told my friends, I told my family, I’ve always been out to my coworkers and stuff.”
He kept a tight lip on air, he said, because as a journalist he didn't see how his sexual orientation played a role in his reporting abilities.
"It didn’t seem part of my job," he said. “(But) I didn’t want to send a message that there was anything I was ashamed about or unhappy about or not comfortable with."
The CNN anchor came out via an e-mail he wrote to fellow journalist, Andrew Sullivan, which he urged the reporter to publish.
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In the note, he wrote that he felt people were "evolved enough not to be god-smacked" when someone reveals their sexual identity.
"I am the same person I always was, I do the job just the same way," he said.
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