Steve, I don’t usually like “watching” Anderson exploit his celebrity side on shows like this, but I am also a big admirer of Jeff Lewis so I didn’t dare miss it! I am not sure what type of viewer he was trying to attract with this appearance, but it was funny. I was sorry to see that Andy Baby was reduced to a “Midnight Booty Call,” I can see the jokes about that coming already! I would have rather seen Jeff and Anderson in the studio instead of Kim because, let’s face it, both of them are more attractive and interesting than she could ever hope to be!

I wonder if Andy Cohen was forced to sign a release promising not to ask Anderson any “personal questions” or if he was required to screen any and all questions with Anderson beforehand because the “silver fox” seemed unusually anxious to answer them.

I am not insinuating anything, but if not, I have to wonder if Anderson squirmed just a little when Andy started a question with, “You’ve come out publicly….”

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

News people go on talk shows all the time, Libra Blue. If Anderson wants to promote something he goes on a major talk show, though. This was helping out Andy Cohen to get his new little talk show off the ground. Andy and Anderson know each other socially. Andy is also friendly with Sarah Jessica Parker and Kelly Ripa who are the other stars who have done call ins to his show. There wouldn’t be any need for Andy to ask about Anderson’s personal life because he knows Anderson and his boyfriend socially as a couple as well. Most out celebrities believe other gay celebrities should be allowed to come out on their own time when they are ready, however. The fact Anderson is calling into this show to talk about the Real Housewives with two gays and a real housewife would be indicative to anyone that he’s gay and not putting on a masquerade about it anyway.

I don’t see why you make a big deal about Anderson as a specific individual not announcing his sexuality. There are a lot of gays in news who are out publicly, and plenty of celebrities in general who are gay but not officially out. Anderson just gets an unusual degree of hassle about it because more guys want him out than someone like Shep Smith since Anderson’s attractive. At least he isn’t one of the ones who lies about it. There is no indication he is tyrannical about interviews. All there has ever been is one freelance blogger who said CNN (not Anderson himself) requested he not to ask personal questions, but he made no promises and still got the interview and then went ahead and asked Anderson about his sexuality without problem.

That should have been “There are a lot of gays in news who are NOT out publicly, and plenty of celebrities in general who are gay but not officially out.” Clearly out gays in news are rare, particularly at the national level.

Nam, do you think people hassle Anderson more because he’s attractive or because it’s a fun cat-and-mouse game to try to catch him in a slip-up? Think about Whoopi Goldberg and Rachel Maddow – people are always looking past Whoopi’s work and into her social life because they can’t figure out her sexuality (remember that time she went to a No on Prop 8 rally?). But with Maddow, there is little to be said – she’s a proud and confident woman.

I think a lot of media personalities stay in the closet because they think it will irrevocably change their careers, when in fact they are drawing more attention to themselves and away from their professional life. To be taken more seriously, shouldn’t all news personalities come out instead of being the butt of everyone’s jokes? I think for the equality movement and for the quality of our news in general, shattering the glass closet helps make progress.

I think the cat and mouse game is only fun like it is and draws participants like it does because he’s attractive. There are lots of other gays and lesbians who are employed in news and none of them get anything like the same treatment Anderson has no matter how obvious or not obvious their sexuality is. The cats aren’t looking for other mice. There are plainly benefits to being attractive as well so I’m not crying buckets for him, but I think it’s inappropriate when people start villainizing him as though being attractive actually makes it legitimately of vital importance he specifically come out or confers special community responsibilities on him.

Rachel Maddow is a lesbian and she has been dating the same woman for 10 years in a stable monogamous relationship, which means she’s not fertile for gossip. It’s unknown whether she would have gotten a pass like other people in news if she’d been closeted. The major gossip sites are owned and run by gay men who are very interested in gossip and dirt about other (hot) gay men, not particularly in lesbians, and the big markets for gossip are straight women and gay guys not lesbians. Straight women and gay men love to tear apart their own celebrities, while lesbians generally don’t devote that kind of energy or take that kind of joy in tearing apart famous lesbians.

Whoopi Goldberg is a strange comparison since she is not in news, she has made decisive declarations about her sexuality (i.e. she’s straight and loves men), she has been public with personal relationships and she has been open for years about explaining her relationship and support of the gay community (she has gay friends, thinks minorities should stick together, and she appreciates the support gays have provided her over the years). She just gets some hassle with people doubting her word because she’s androgynous, it’s not a case of people being curious or frustrated as a result of her refusing to identify her sexuality to the public or being vague about things. Portia de rossi had the same thing in reverse, the public doubting her true lesbianism even after she announced her sexuality because she is so feminine.

If the other gay news personalities actually got outed all the time or received major attention about being gay, maybe it would be true that they are drawing more attention to themselves and away from their professional lives. They aren’t, so that is not the case. I don’t know what would be best professionally. It clearly hasn’t helped Charles Perez professionally having his personal life aired. It didn’t help Thomas Roberts to come out since he couldn’t get a job in news or even hold onto a position on a tabloid show after coming out and leaving CNN. The lesbian news show hosts who have come out have done OK, but on a national level they’ve all been commentators to my knowledge and they’ve been in very long term monogamous relationships. Lesbians relationships statistically last longer than straight relationships and their sexual and social lives tend to naturally be different than those of men, so I think they have a real advantage on that front when it comes to opening up to the public and receiving a big stamp of approval. For equality purposes coming out can help, but less so if the guys who come out are publicly embarrassed by bloggers from our own community who make them look sleazy to straights with gay cliché confirming sex scandals after the same bloggers were urging everyone to take the risk in coming out in the first place.

@nam, Do you have “inside information?” I never heard Anderson admit to having a “boyfriend.” So what you are saying is that this was a “safe” interview.

I am not sure not admitting he is gay is any better than lying about it. I don’t have a problem with Anderson staying in the closet if he is gay, I just think it is a little sleazy to use it to promote his career.

Who do you suppose he is “helping out” when he is on “Regis & Kelly” all of the time? Funny thing is every time he is on Ripa spends a lot of time making innuendos about Anderson’s private life and he seems to enjoy it. However, he did seem to be a little “uncomfortable” when she was joking around about him having a “secret life.”

BTW, I think that Shep Smith is pretty attractive.

@Kevin, Many people, maybe even most people, are interested in Anderson merely because he is attractive (just read the comments left on his FB and blog pages) not because he is, I mean was, a good journalist and so they get a kick out of his little sexual “teases.” If he wasn’t attractive I think that many of them would not be watching 360, in fact, I doubt he would even have a show of his own. CNN knows this, why do you think they promote him the way they do? I don’t see them plastering provocative photos of Wolf Blitzer all over the place do you? Frankly, I think Anderson was more attractive during his Katrina days, before his multimillion dollar contract, Ralph Lauren suits, and HD makeup, maybe his seemingly genuine sincerity had something to do with it. Now he looks like Max Headroom on steroids and most of the time that “sincerity” seems more like an offensive Marie Antoinette “milk maid” act.

I think you are right, the interest in someone’s personal life does distract from his/her professional life. It may not matter to someone in the entertainment business whose reputation and credibility don’t mean anything, but it is different for a journalist or a politician. A gay journalist also has the added pressure of having to travel to areas of the world and interview people who are hostile towards gays so I can understand some of the secrecy, but then I would not be joking about it either.

Of course you know that Anderson always says that he doesn’t do things that draw attention to himself, but I think that I can name a few things that would prove otherwise.

Hey, Librablue!

Anderson isn’t lying about it, though, he’s just not discussing it. I don’t think Anderson is using staying in the closet to promote his career, he’s never pretended to date or be romantically interested in any woman. There’s banter with some of his friends that could be considered flirting, but it’s clearly not serious and most of the time they’re married anyway. It’s not like he couldn’t do that if he were out to everybody. There is the occasional veiled hint from himself, but that’s not really promoting his career I think, it’s more of an inside joke. It’s also not like he’s actively encouraging everyone to speculate like Adam Lambert before he came out.

I think he’s friends with Kelly personally as well. I’ve never seen Ripa make innuendo’s him being gay, and he doesn’t respond to her fake come-ons and declarations of love with anything but nervous laughter. He seemingly enjoys talking to her about matress shopping, if that’s what you mean.

Yay, Shep!

I think he is a good journalist. The subject manner of his show isn’t always that great, but I think that’s mostly a producers job (?), but he handles what he gets pretty well usually. He’s going to be in New Orleans on thursday and friday, and later in Afghanistan. I think he would have a show of his own. He has good credentials. Lou Dobbs has a show on CNN, and he’s far from handsome and way worse journalistically than Anderson.

And again, I don’t agree he’s an attention seeker.

I have to agree with Anne I dont think Anderson is an attention seeker. I dont see what the big deal is about his sexuality. If he is, he is. If he’s not, hes not!. I actually love the fact he dont want to discuss his personal life. People get soooo caught in labels and titles . . . WHY? I dont understand it. Everyone wants to know about everyone. What they need to do is focus a little bit more on them selves. He wants to protect his neutrality as a journalist, and I respect that. I feel like those who are angry with him for not giving them what they want (a big coming out party or w/e they’re expecting) is just got damn NOSEY and need to focus on their own lives. Everyone says he dont talk about being interested in woman, but i havent heard him talk about being interested in men either. I think he’s been avoiding questions like that for sooo long its just natural for him to override those questions. At the end of the day its his life and he has to live it.

a little message to everyone inquiring about his sexuality *GET OVER YOURSELVES! .

its not that serious .