Bravo, Cooper!

Anderson Cooper proclaimed, “The fact is, I’m gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn’t be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud.”

There was a frenzy on Twitter thereby making the topic trend as netizens discussed the question if indeed people knew Cooper was gay or not and if it even really mattered. Consensus is — not really. Why? Because Cooper was good at what he did professionally as a journalist and never let his sexual orientation affect the way he reports his stories. Has the perception of people opposed to giving equal rights to gays become more open now that a prominent public figure has come out of the closet?

The public has always been hungry for news on the latest “ladlad” issue. Remember when the hottest and sexiest pop star came out on Twitter? The big difference between Ricky Martin’s coming out and Cooper’s is that for years, Martin denied it, even to Barbara Walters’ face.

So when Martin finally admitted he was gay, we weren’t as shocked as say, Cooper. While Martin was selling the image of him being a sexy hunk to the screaming throngs of women back in his Livin’ La Vida Loca days, Cooper was in the midst of war reporting factual content for the good of the public.

Now, with the divorce of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes and speculations arising about a supposed marriage contract to protect Cruise’s hetero image, it saddens me to think that being gay in today’s society isn’t as easy as we all thought. Movie stars still have their image to protect where coming out can be detrimental to one’s livelihood.

Reports of suicide and bullying are still widespread when it comes to people accepting others for being gay. The real battle still lies in how religion depicts homosexuality and in the Philippines, with many devout Catholics or Christians who take the Bible literally, word for word.

But Cooper addressed the issue of religion and being gay in his “coming out” statement saying that “… the ability to love another person is one of God’s greatest gifts, and I thank God every day for enabling me to give and share love with the people in my life.”

Without a doubt, love is God’s gift to us regardless of what we are — gay, straight, bakla, tomboy. Bravo, Cooper! for the courage and the dignity to tell the world who he really is. It’s important to be counted in today’s society as the LGBT community and their supporters continue their fight for equality in the 21st century.