CNN anchor Don Lemon used the occasion
of Robin Roberts' coming out to remind viewers that coming out
remains important.
On Sunday, the 53-year-old Roberts, a
co-host of ABC's Good Morning America, publicly acknowledged
for the first time that she is in a relationship with girlfriend
Amber Laign.
“I am grateful for my entire family,
my long time girlfriend, Amber, and friends as we prepare to
celebrate a glorious new year together,” Roberts wrote in a
Facebook post.
“We have been talking a lot tonight
about people coming out,” Lemon, who came out in 2011, told the
network's OutFront audience. “Do people really need to do
it anymore? The answer is yes.”
Lemon explained that keeping track of
whom you've told and whom you've not told is “exhausting.”
“I can't speak for Robin Roberts, nor
any of my recently out gay colleagues, I didn't do it sooner because
I was afraid of losing my livelihood. I was afraid that you would no
longer watch me. I was afraid of people like Phil Robertson, who
claim to love everyone while simultaneously thinking that everyone's
love isn't equal. The people who use religion and scripture to
shield bigotry now toward gays and in the past toward women and
African Americans.”
“Hopefully for Robin, like me,
empowerment quickly replaced fear once I did come out.”
“That's why it's still important to
come out and say very simply, 'I'm gay,'” Lemon added. (The video
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