Kathy Griffin has offered some words of advice to her friend Anderson Cooper, who recently came out as gay. In an article by the Daily Beast, the controversial comedian explains that Cooper could well be in for a rocky ride, as mainstream America is not quite as liberal as many may assume it to be. "The reality is that despite the very real, the very necessary, and the very life-changing progress we have made in this country in treating people across the sexual orientation spectrum with dignity and respect," Griffin explains, "America-the world-is not fully represented by Chelsea in New York City."
She goes on to explain that many in America still harbor homophobic sentiment and reveals "was eating recently at a local diner and a patron asked me, "Kathy, how do you deal with so many goddamned fags?" In the article, Griffin explains that she has been asked on countless occasions - by the media - about Anderson's sexuality but never felt that it was her place to unveil something that he decided to keep very private. "He never gave me permission to speak about something that represented the one part of his life he was not comfortable having confirmed in the media," said Griffin.
Until now, Anderson's 'party line' regarding his sexuality has been "I want to report the news. I don't want to be the news." His decision to publicly come out, though, may well have scuppered that determined outlook, at least for a while.