Anderson Cooper - Anderson Cooper Comes Out As Gay In Email

The well-respected broadcast journalist, who has long dodged questions about his sexuality in the past, stepped out of the closet during a recent email exchange with The Daily Beast columnist Andrew Sullivan. In the exchange, Cooper, 45, addresses the trend of gay people in public life who are coming out to a much more understanding public in a more straightforward way.

In the email, he writes; "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." Cooper had given Sullivan full permission to post his lengthy, revealing email online, and it soon whipped up a minor media storm. The host also noted in the email that he felt now was the right time to come forward about his sexuality, as he has become concerned that his silence on the matter would be misinterpreted as shame, rather than his desire to keep his private life exactly that.