OPINION

Anderson Cooper Should Be Outed

By MICHAEL LUCAS
Friday, April 27, 2007

IN ORDER TO AVOID harmful rays, I rarely go to the beach at my Fire Island home before sunset. At that time of day, I often see CNN newsman Anderson Cooper strolling the sands of the beach, hand in hand with his boyfriend. I know he’s showing up at that time to keep his gayness hidden from mainstream America. Not that anybody should really need me as an eyewitness to confirm Cooper’s sexual orientation.

The April issue of Out Magazine features facsimiles of Cooper and actress Jodie Foster on the cover with the headline “The Glass Closet,” and an excellent article by Michael Musto. I applaud Out for making that move.

Yet it disturbs me that Cooper refuses to actually come out. Our community does still need role models employed in mainstream professional activities. Despite a certain amount of progress, the dominant image of gays portrayed to society is still taken from “The Birdcage”: over-the-top and effeminate. We’re shown as the jokey sidekick, the clown, the hairdresser, or some Chelsea boy about to hit rock bottom.

But even more than gay people need role models, society needs to see that gay people are performing serious duties responsibly.

By coming out, Cooper could send the following message to the heterosexual world: “You’ve acknowledged that my professionalism makes me worthy of respect and prestige. I happen to be gay. Please remember not to disrespect other gay people because of their gayness. It’s too important for society that they fulfill their potential without having to push against the barriers anti-gay prejudice creates.”

All of Cooper’s explanations of why he won’t come out reveal hypocrisy and rank cowardice. Look at this verbatim quote:
“I understand why people might be interested. But I just don’t talk about my personal life. It’s a decision I made a long time ago, before I ever even knew anyone would be interested in my personal life. The whole thing about being a reporter is that you’re supposed to be an observer and to be able to adapt with any group you’re in, and I don’t want to do anything that threatens that.”

There, Cooper is talking as though he were taking a scholarly approach to news reporting, an approach he does not actually take. Plus, which group is he worried about not being able to “adapt to,” were he to come out? The KKK? Focus on the Family? The fact is, Anderson Cooper’s main renown as a reporter comes from the emotional, personal aspect of his reporting.

Here is how Broadcasting & Cable magazine put it: “In its aftermath, Hurricane Katrina served to usher in a new breed of emo-journalism, skyrocketing CNN’s Anderson Cooper to superstardom as CNN’s golden boy and a darling of the media circles because of his impassioned coverage of the storm.”
Is there any aspect of his personal life other than his sexual orientation that Cooper shies from including in his reportage and commentary? His autobiography, “Dispatches From the Edge,” frequently interweaves parts of his biography into his news coverage.

Here is what he once said about having his hair color: “Going gray is like ejaculation. You know it can happen prematurely, but when it actually does, it’s a total shock.” Why can this man publicly admit to having ejaculated prematurely but not to being gay?
   
ONE MATTER COOPER
has not hesitated to address is his feelings regarding his brother’s suicide. His mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, believed that Carter Vanderbilt Cooper killed himself in reaction to a dangerous prescription drug. Well you know what? Anderson Cooper does not have to go running to Asia or Iraq to find a monumental human tragedy. Though gays comprise only about 10 percent of the population, many studies show that gay teens in the U.S. are known to make up about 30 percent of youth suicides. The real percentage of gay teens that kill themselves is probably higher, as many are deeply closeted before ending their lives.
By coming out, by telling America that anti-gay prejudice is backwards and wrong, Cooper could advance us toward the day when there will not be a disproportionate number of gay youths killing themselves. Would he hesitate to say that bigotry against blacks, Asians or any other ethnic group is wrong? Given his power as a communicator to mainstream America, why does he behave as though asking him to come out and condemn anti-gay bigotry is too much?

Anderson Cooper knows how it feels to have a sibling who commits suicide. He is in a position to erode anti-gay bigotry through the personal bravery of coming out and talking about these questions. Why doesn’t he do it? Does he think it’s more important to help a tsunami victim in Indonesia than it is to help the victims of anti-gay prejudice in his own country?

Young gay Americans are only killing themselves because of that prejudice, after all. How about a Cooper report from an American morgue, showing the bodies of young gay suicide victims? How about honest reporting on what drove the victims to the act?

Cooper’s show on CNN might be called “360°” but he sure hasn’t taken a good enough look around to realize that by staying in the closet, he makes himself an enabler of anti-gay bigots. He once told an interviewer this about the qualities needed in a news announcer: “I think you have to be yourself, and you have to be real.”

Please already, Anderson: Take your own advice and get real.

Michael Lucas is the president and CEO of LucasEntertainment.com. You can read more about his thoughts and his XXX movies at LucasBlog.com.

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