Anderson Cooper came out of the closet
to propose marriage to boyfriend Ben Maisani, grocery store tabloid
The National Enquirer reported.
The 45-year-old Cooper, long rumored to
be gay, discussed
his sexual orientation for the first time in a lengthy e-mail
published last week on Andrew Sullivan's blog The Dish, which
is hosted by The Daily Beast. Cooper said he was proud and
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,” Cooper wrote.
The CNN anchor has been involved with
Maisani, the 39-year-old owner of gay bar Eastern Bloc in Manhattan's
East Village, since at least 2009.
“He'd been considering breaking the
news [about being gay] since same-sex marriage became legal in the
state of New York last summer,” the
Enquirer
quoted an unnamed source. “It's been about a year now and he
wants to get married to Ben. They're totally committed to one
another.”
According to the report, the
Cooper-Maisani wedding could take place as early as Labor Day.