Anderson Cooper publicly admits he’s gay

Anderson Cooper (CNN)

For the first time Monday, Anderson Cooper revealed publicly what many have long suspected about his guarded private life.

“I’m gay,” the CNN journalist told The Daily Beast’s Andrew Sullivan in a candid interview that was published Monday. “Always have been, always will be.

Cooper’s distaste for having his privately life documented has been well-documented. But he said he had a recent revelation: “The tide of history only advances when people make themselves fully visible,” he said.

Speaking about a world in which “there continues to be far too many incidences of bullying of young people, as well as discrimination and violence against people of all ages, based on their sexual orientation,” Cooper said he felt it was important to make his sexual orientation abundantly clear.

“By remaining silent on certain aspects of my personal life for so long, I have given some the mistaken impression that I am trying to hide something,” Cooper said in the interview. “The fact is, I’m gay … and I couldn’t be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud.”

Cooper said one of the original reasons for keeping his sexual orientation a secret had to do with personal concerns about his own privacy as well as that of his family. Cooper also said there were potential professional ramifications of admitting he was gay, saying it could lead some viewers to believe he was pushing a specific social agenda.