“The Fact Is, I’m Gay”

In response to a request from the Daily Beast’s Andrew Sullivan, Anderson Cooper has come out as gay in a very eloquent message. “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.

Of course, Cooper’s sexuality has been an open secret for years now. That’s not to detract, though, from the importance of such a prominent man — one who’s done wartime reporting and hosted Anderson Cooper 360 for CNN, who has his own daytime talk show and who even hosted the 2001 U.S. reality show The Mole — coming out in such a public forum. When someone decides to do this, it’s never a bad thing.