All tag results for 'coming out of the closet'

Anderson Cooper publicly proclaimed his homosexuality earlier this summer but has only commented on his decision in print. Thanks to Kristen Chenoweth, however, that changed during the second season premiere of Anderson Live!

Watch the journalist-turned-television personality respond to his co-host's prodding and finally talk about why he came out to the public (above).

At first he seems a little uncomfortable to be talking about it, but maybe that's just because he wasn't expecting to be put on the spot. Either way, his blushing is adorbz!

Tags: anderson cooper, anderson live, coming out of the closet, gay, homosexuality, journalist, kristin chenoweth, reporter, season premiere, sexuality

Ellen DeGeneres has established a $50 million empire over the years, but her rise to the top of daytime television didn't happen over night.

In fact, it probably wouldn't have happened had the comedian decided against coming out to the public on a 1997 episode of her hit sitcom. Just ask Oprah Winfrey, who recently told sources:

"Being able to be free — literally — and to express herself in a way that she can be 100 percent truthful with the audience has allowed them to fall in love with her. Honest-to-God truth: I don't believe she would have been as successful as she has become had she not come out."

The talk show host's success did not come without sacrifice though. Her career crumbled after the controversial episode aired and put Ellen on a downward spiral. She couldn't find work for three years and almost went broke in the process, but she wasn't the only one receiving excessive backlash.

Oprah appeared on the program as Ellen's therapist to whom the sitcom star revealed her sexual orientation and says she received hateful letters as a result. So hateful, in fact, that she was called the N-word by some, as she explained:

Tags: american public, coming out of the closet, ellen, ellen degeneres, gay, lesbian, oprah, racist, sitcom, wanda sykes

This is so heartbreaking!

We can't imagine how hard it was for this young man to read this awful letter from his father, let alone post it on the internet, but we understand EXACTLY why he did it.

In an effort to show the world "how hate sounds," Reddit user RegBarc uploaded a letter he received from his loving father after coming out of the closet when he was only 15 years old. His father "disowned" him 5 years ago and they haven't talked since.

The handwritten letter can be hard to read (above), so find out the WORST thing a parent can say to a gay child … AFTER THE JUMP!

Tags: awful, coming out of the closet, dad, disown, father, gay, heartbreaking, letter, parenting, reddit, sad

Oh, Star! Oh… STAR!!!

Thursday, on national television, Star Jones made a statement regarding Anderson Cooper's recent coming out.

And it is shocking!

According to Star, Anderson probably came out just to get a ratings' boost… kinda like when Oprah admitted to smoking crack!

Or if you want it verbatim, she said:

Tags: anderson cooper, coming out of the closet, crack, gay celebrities, oprah, ratings, star jones

Frank Ocean is getting lots of support from the hip-hop community after opening up about his sexuality on his website.

One of his biggest supporters, however, is Russell Simmons.

The Def Jam co-founder wrote a touching piece on the Global Grind to applaud Frank on his courageous decision.

Russell wrote:

Tags: bisexual, coming out, coming out of the closet, def jam, frank ocean, gay, global grind, russell simmons, support

Songwriter Frank Ocean is celebrating Independence Day as a "free man" after officially coming out in heartfelt post on his Tumblr.

The Odd Future member posted on Tuesday:

we’re all a bunch of golden million dollar babies. my hope is that the babies born these days will inherit less of the bullshit than we did. anyhow, what i’m about to post is for anyone who cares to read. it was intended to fill the thank you’s section in my album credits, but with all the rumors going round.. i figured it’d be good to clarify..

Ocean went on to write a beautiful story about his first love, a man, and feels completely free now that he's set the record straight about his sexuality.

What a brave and amazing decision!

Good for you Frank! We're so happy for you!

You can read his complete entry…AFTER THE JUMP!

Tags: bisexual, blog, coming out, coming out of the closet, frank ocean, gay, odd future, tumblr

Congratulations, Todd! Welcome to the gayborhood!!!! There's some wine in the fridge.

During an episode of podcast WTF With Marc Maron, comedian Todd Glass publicly announced he's gay.

Todd said he wanted to come out because he couldn't hide it anymore while so many teens and young adults were committing suicide to get away from the homophobic bullying.

He told Marc:

Tags: bullying, coming out of the closet, gay, homophobia, todd glass, wtf with marc maron, youth suicide