In his “I'm gay” statement
published Monday, Anderson Cooper denied being closeted, following in
the footsteps of other gay celebrities who have insisted they never
concealed their sexual orientation.
Before he stated, “I'm gay, always
have been, always will be,” Cooper, CNN's best-known news anchor,
effectively denied being closeted, “I have always been very open
and honest about this part of my life with my friends, my family and
my colleagues.”
“In a perfect world, I don't think
it's anyone else's business,” he added.
Last year, American Idol alum
Clay Aiken, who came out gay in a high-profile 2008 People
magazine cover story, was criticized when he said he was never in.
“I wasn't in the closet before,” he
said. “People knew, I had told my family, I'd told friends, people
knew but I had not told 'you' and it's none of your business.”
Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir even
argued that keeping mum is a powerful statement.
“I never thought like I lived in a
closet, I just didn't say it in black and white for people that I'm
gay because it's not important,” Weir said. “I think the
strongest thing I can do as a gay man is live completely [and]
normally show that – well, as normal as I can – and show that
I'm nothing to be afraid of. I am nothing special simply because of
something I was born with. I've made myself Johnny Weir. I've made
my life very nice for myself and I've worked hard for it. And I want
people to focus on that, not that I'm gay.”
In an op-ed in The
New York Times, Daniel Mendelsohn shot down such
arguments, saying they reveal “deep and troubling assumptions.”
“If you're really 'happy, comfortable
… and proud' to be gay, as Mr. Cooper says he is, the simple fact
of being gay should be no more a 'privacy' issue than being straight
is for straight people,” he wrote. “You can't claim to be
comfortable with being gay while trying to keep it a secret: When you
conceal your sexuality, you're buying, however unconsciously or
reluctantly, into the notion that there is, at some level, something
wrong with it.”