The Foster thing is bull. Jodie Foster did NOT "basically come out" when she gave a gushy speech at a little non-televised award show where she threw in the name Cydney (usually a man's name) with a lot of other names without identifying who she was talking about. It was sort of something OK that she gave her partner and co-parent of 15 years that miniscule token act at a moment of guilt about cheating and being about to dump her, but it's nonsense she gets credit for being out or as good as out by authorities like Gawker that don't lower the bar like that that for anyone else.
Anderson Cooper gave his boyfriend a more public and lasting personal thank you in his bestselling book, and I don't see anyone claiming that is somehow equal to coming out. Nobody counts Rosie Odonnel as having come out when she thanked Kelli at a major televised award show, they count her as coming out when she announced she's gay.
A few media outlets acting on their own initiative decided to interpret Jodie's ambiguous mention of Cydney as Jodie coming out and reported it that way. You know they were asking Jodie for confirmation, statements and interviews and there was absolutely nothing from Foster. #andersoncooper
This issue is really simple. As far as I can tell, Cooper isn’t hiding anything. If there’s reliable information that he has relationships with men, then the media just needs to treat that information the same way they would about any other media personality. News anchors’ personal lives aren’t often of much interest to the viewing public, but when it’s relevant, there’s no reason to treat it as a secret, open or otherwise.
Meanwhile, that French guy’s nipples are hypnotizing me. #andersoncooper
@dieresis: I would agree with your comment. I'm unclear on how this all this material on non-celebrity Maisani is relevant to anything, though.
I think closeted gay news people, ALL closeted news people not just Cooper, should get the same treatment straight news people get in terms of love life coverage. So can we expect a big lay out on Olbermann's girlfriend and whoever closet gays like Robin Roberts, Shep Smith and Don Lemon have been doing? #andersoncooper
@mostlymartian: No you can't. The private life of a newscaster is really not news. The only significant reason why Anderson Cooper's life is being discussed at all is because he is [probably] gay. So what! Well, as pointed out by porkchOp31, it may be nice when any positive successful gays come out. Otherwise, lay off! There is plenty of Rush Limbaugh stuff to poke fun at. #andersoncooper
@mostlymartian: I don’t think there’s been a "big layout." I don’t see any major outlets reporting it as news.
Obviously, gossip sites are a separate category. They’ll cover just about anything with scant regard for the truth or any other journalistic standard. Anderson Cooper is better known than the people you mentioned, and more attractive than most of them, so he inevitably gets attention from celebrity hounds. The added features of palatial vacations and hunky boyfriends guarantee excited chatter among a certain portion of the rumor-consuming public. #andersoncooper
@komowkwa: It's not because he's gay. If it were the many other closet gay and lesbians in news like the ones I listed would be outed constantly, pushed to come out and having their love lives exposed here as well. They are also gay, in news and successful. Outing them would also increase gay visibility. The total focus on Cooper gives people the wrong impression he is the only gay in news. #andersoncooper
@dieresis: I was referring to Gawker's recent Maisani articles and I would classify them as big lay outs for Gawker. In addition to this article, there was a big personal profile of Cooper's boyfriend with pics and a later article featuring a large as possible collection of photos with a request for more.
I can see why Cooper would draw more coverage on this site, but not why he gets it all or his non-celebrity boyfriend gets this kind of scrutiny and exposure while other closet newsies' partners/dates/pick ups get none. The other glass closet cases would probably be better known if they got outed all the time like Cooper, and some of them have way more viewers than Cooper so they are already pretty well known. Surely some if not most of these successful people must have hot dates and cool vacations readers would find intriguing. If Gawker solicited readers for private stories and pics of the girlfriends of guys like Olbermann the way they are doing with Maisani I sure there would be plenty of readers for any juicy stuff they could turn up.
If Gawker's going to be investigating and publishing about news people's love/sex lives and spotlighting non-celebrity partners, why shouldn't the discomfort and embarrassment be spread around? #andersoncooper
People may be forgetting one factor when they wonder why many gay men think it's important that guys like Cooper come out: human nature. I think there's some streak of "Well I had to deal with the trauma of coming out, but you get the sweet celebrity life AND you don't have to actually do your coming-out shpiel?" present in arguments that "glass closet" gays should publicly come out.
This is, however, more of an assumption than anything else. #andersoncooper
Good catch! I can't believe this nimrod is so afraid of being outed he makes his boyfriend walk behind him. Thats horrifying on so many levels. #andersoncooper
@Oryx Hearts Crake: That airport pic was only a few months before AC was walking and biking everywhere beside Ben even though everyone was tweeting about them, people took pics, and the New York Daily News warned AC to dump Ben in an unsubtle blind item.
I don't see any reason to assume he was making a boyfriend walk behind him one month and then magically transformed into someone with a completely different approach a couple months later. Maybe Julio Cesar didn't want to do things around a camera that might generate big invasive gawker profiles, or maybe he was not as speedy because as AC because he is carrying a load of bags and AC packed light with one rolling suitcase, who knows? #andersoncooper
I'm not clear how Rachel Maddow has paved a way for a gay news anchorman to come out. She's a lesbian left wing editorialist who was out already when she was hired from left wing talk radio back when MSNBC was making an ostentatious swing to the left. She's a very different sort of show host and she's a woman. You might as well claim Ellen or Rosie has paved the way for Anderson since I would say they have the same amount of relevance as Maddow. #andersoncooper
I don't think he has anymore of an obligation to scream "I'M A HOMO!" Than I do to scream I'm straight. I think it's a positive sign of the times that he basically just treats it as a non-issue. #andersoncooper
@MncinglyWhordL'mer: In my eyes it's his right to ignore it if he chooses to, he doesn't owe anyone anything. Why does he have to be the poster child for gay men, why can't he just live his life? I truly don't understand the uproar. It's not like he is out protesting for anti-gay legislation or anything. #andersoncooper
As a reporter, Anderson travels not infrequently to countries where being gay is a crime punishable by death. Ever consider that as a reason he doesn't make a public declaration?
He should be lauded for bringing the homosex to India! Can you imagine the rumors flying about among the hotel staff about the American from TV and his mysterious companion? Globalization is good for third world gays. The world is flat! #andersoncooper
11/01/09
Anderson Cooper gave his boyfriend a more public and lasting personal thank you in his bestselling book, and I don't see anyone claiming that is somehow equal to coming out. Nobody counts Rosie Odonnel as having come out when she thanked Kelli at a major televised award show, they count her as coming out when she announced she's gay.
A few media outlets acting on their own initiative decided to interpret Jodie's ambiguous mention of Cydney as Jodie coming out and reported it that way. You know they were asking Jodie for confirmation, statements and interviews and there was absolutely nothing from Foster. #andersoncooper
10/30/09
Meanwhile, that French guy’s nipples are hypnotizing me. #andersoncooper
10/30/09
I think closeted gay news people, ALL closeted news people not just Cooper, should get the same treatment straight news people get in terms of love life coverage. So can we expect a big lay out on Olbermann's girlfriend and whoever closet gays like Robin Roberts, Shep Smith and Don Lemon have been doing? #andersoncooper
10/30/09
10/30/09
Obviously, gossip sites are a separate category. They’ll cover just about anything with scant regard for the truth or any other journalistic standard. Anderson Cooper is better known than the people you mentioned, and more attractive than most of them, so he inevitably gets attention from celebrity hounds. The added features of palatial vacations and hunky boyfriends guarantee excited chatter among a certain portion of the rumor-consuming public. #andersoncooper
11/01/09
11/01/09
I can see why Cooper would draw more coverage on this site, but not why he gets it all or his non-celebrity boyfriend gets this kind of scrutiny and exposure while other closet newsies' partners/dates/pick ups get none. The other glass closet cases would probably be better known if they got outed all the time like Cooper, and some of them have way more viewers than Cooper so they are already pretty well known. Surely some if not most of these successful people must have hot dates and cool vacations readers would find intriguing. If Gawker solicited readers for private stories and pics of the girlfriends of guys like Olbermann the way they are doing with Maisani I sure there would be plenty of readers for any juicy stuff they could turn up.
If Gawker's going to be investigating and publishing about news people's love/sex lives and spotlighting non-celebrity partners, why shouldn't the discomfort and embarrassment be spread around? #andersoncooper
10/30/09
10/29/09
This is, however, more of an assumption than anything else. #andersoncooper
10/29/09
[www.bigmuscle.com]
Darren? Or Benjamin? You be the judge. #andersoncooper
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Good catch! I can't believe this nimrod is so afraid of being outed he makes his boyfriend walk behind him. Thats horrifying on so many levels. #andersoncooper
10/30/09
I don't see any reason to assume he was making a boyfriend walk behind him one month and then magically transformed into someone with a completely different approach a couple months later. Maybe Julio Cesar didn't want to do things around a camera that might generate big invasive gawker profiles, or maybe he was not as speedy because as AC because he is carrying a load of bags and AC packed light with one rolling suitcase, who knows? #andersoncooper
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Hate to tell you this, but he doesn't owe you or anyone else a public declaration of his sexuality. #andersoncooper
10/29/09