Anrson Cooper: 'Beg gay is one of the blsgs of my life' | CNN

Contents:

• ANRSON COOPER: ‘BEG GAY IS ONE OF THE BLSGS OF MY LIFE’
• ANRSON COOPER SHAR WHEN HE REALIZED HE WAS GAY: 'ONE OF THE GREAT BLSGS OF MY LIFE'
• ANRSON COOPER REVEALS WHEN HE KNEW — AND ACCEPTED — HE WAS GAY
• ANRSON COOPER SHAR WHEN HE KNEW — AND WHEN HE ACCEPTED — THAT HE WAS GAY
• ANRSON COOPER KNEW HE WAS GAY AT 7 YEARS OLD
• ANRSON COOPER SAYS HE REALIZED HE WAS GAY AFTER MEETG A SHIRTLS RICHARD GERE BACKSTAGE AT A BROADWAY PLAY
• IS ANTHONY ANRSON GAY? ON SEXUALY AND SNDALS

ANRSON COOPER: ‘BEG GAY IS ONE OF THE BLSGS OF MY LIFE’

Anrson talks about how he learned to embrace beg gay. Anrson Cooper was asked by a viewer on Full Circle about how old he was when he accepted that he was gay.

And not jt accepted , but fully embraced and me around to really lovg the fact that I was gay right after llege, ” Cooper said.

Cooper shared that he stggled to e to terms wh beg gay bee of limatns he and others faced the late 80s. Anrson thought about jog the ary, but 1982, the US Army clared homosexualy to be “patible wh ary service.

ANRSON COOPER SHAR WHEN HE REALIZED HE WAS GAY: 'ONE OF THE GREAT BLSGS OF MY LIFE'

” Anrson wanted to travel, but beg gay was illegal some untri. “I thk beg gay is one of the blsgs of my life. "I'm not sure I knew the word 'gay' at the time, but I realized somethg was up, " Cooper said a Q&A ssn Monday on CNN's "Full Circle, " addg that he began to tell iends when he was high school but still stggled through llege wh fully lovg himself.

"I thk I really, tly accepted – and not jt accepted , but fully embraced and me around to really lovg the fact that I was gay – would probably be right after llege, " he said. "A lot of the thgs I wanted to do at the time, you uldn't be gay, " he said, cg an tert jog the U. Ary, though out members of the gay muny were not allowed to serve at the time.

ANRSON COOPER REVEALS WHEN HE KNEW — AND ACCEPTED — HE WAS GAY

The ary's "don't ask, don't tell" policy which prohibed openly gay, lbian and bisexual Amerins om servg, was officially repealed 2011. " He me out as gay to the public on July 2, 2012, allowg iend and wrer Andrew Sullivan to publish an email om him, sayg 'd bee clear that remag silent on the topic had given the false imprsn that he had somethg to hi. "The fact is, I'm gay, always have been, always will be, and I uldn’t be any more happy, fortable wh myself, and proud, " he has sce weled a son, Wyatt Man Cooper, born April 27, 2020 via surrogate.

"I thk beg gay is one of the great blsgs of my life, " Cooper add on "Full Circle. Anrson Cooper is openg up about when he realized he was gay — and when he "really, tly accepted . "I mean, I was probably, I don't know, 7, when I kd of realized — I'm not sure I knew the word 'gay' at the time, but I realized somethg was up.

ANRSON COOPER SHAR WHEN HE KNEW — AND WHEN HE ACCEPTED — THAT HE WAS GAY

Somethg was different, " he said, rpondg to someone who asked him how he learned to accept beg gay and how old he was when he did. The news anchor said that while he had told people high school, wasn't until after llege that he "me around to really lovg the fact that I was gay. "I thk I really, tly accepted — and not jt accepted , but fully embraced and you know, me around to really lovg the fact that I was gay — would probably be right after llege, " he said.

"You know, I kd of stggled my teenage years, certaly, but even a ltle llege, " the father of one ntued, explag that "a lot of the thgs I wanted to do at the time, you uldn't be gay. "And I wanna embrace who I am, and as I've said before, I thk beg gay is one of the great blsgs of my life, " he said, addg that his perspective has "ma me a better person, and 's ma me a better reporter.

" In 2016, the journalist was the first out gay man to morate a printial bate. "When I was 12 years old and knew I was gay and thought about my life, always upset me bee I thought, 'I will never be able to have a kid, ' " Cooper said June for PEOPLE's first-ever Pri issue. Anrson Cooper was 45 years old when he me out publicly 2012, but this week, a CNN viewer wanted to know what age the newsman was when he first realized he was gay and accepted for his answer, Cooper explaed that those were two very different thgs that happened at very different ag.

ANRSON COOPER KNEW HE WAS GAY AT 7 YEARS OLD

” “I’m not sure I knew the word ‘gay’ at the time, but I realized somethg was up, somethg was different. But ultimately, he said he “stggled” wh as a disvered there were thgs he simply uldn’t do, like jo the ary at a time when homosexualy was nsired grounds for discharge or travel abroad to areas where remaed illegal and often dangero to be gay. “I thk I really, tly accepted — and jt kd of, really not jt accepted but fully embraced and me around to really lovg the fact that I was gay — would probably be right after llege, " the now-53-year-old said, addg that was “about a year after llege (when) I realized, 'I don't want to waste any more time worryg about this' and sort of wishg I was some other way.

ANRSON COOPER SAYS HE REALIZED HE WAS GAY AFTER MEETG A SHIRTLS RICHARD GERE BACKSTAGE AT A BROADWAY PLAY

"I thk beg gay is one of the great blsgs of my life, ” he ntued. “When I was 12 years old and I knew I was gay and thought about my life, always upset me, bee I thought, ‘I will never be able to have a kid, ’” Cooper told People magaze shortly after Wyatt’s birth.

Anrson Cooper said he first realized he was gay as a young child. “I mean, I was probably, I don’t know, 7, when I kd of realized — I’m not sure I knew the word ‘gay’ at the time, but I realized somethg was up. The CNN anchor, 53, said he me out to some people high school but didn’t e “around to really lovg” that he was gay until he graduated om Yale Universy 1989.

IS ANTHONY ANRSON GAY? ON SEXUALY AND SNDALS

“I thk I really, tly accepted — and not jt accepted , but fully embraced and you know, me around to really lovg the fact that I was gay — would probably be right after llege, ” he said. Cooper explaed he had many terts at the time — and nsired jog the ary — but felt he uldn’t bee he was gay and worried for his “safety.

The broadster also said that beg gay has ma him a better reporter bee giv him a different perspective. “The fact is, I’m gay, always have been, always will be, and I uldn’t be any more happy, fortable wh myself, and proud, ” he wrote. Anrson Cooper opened up about the moment he realized he was gay Friday on "Rad Andy.