Anderson Cooper said he first realized he was gay as a child.
“I mean, I probably don’t know, 7, when I realized – I’m not sure I knew the word ‘gay’ at the time, but I realized something was going on. Something was different, “he said when asked by CNN’s” Full Circle “viewers on Monday.
CNN’s 53-year-old anchor said she dropped out of high school, but didn’t “really love” being gay until she graduated from Yale University in 1989.
“I think I really accepted him – and not only did I accept him, but I fully embraced him and you know, I came to really love the fact that I was gay – it would probably be right after college,” he said. he.
“You know, I struggled a bit in my teens, for sure, but even a little bit in college,” he continued.
Cooper explained that he had many interests at the time – and considered joining the military – but felt he could not because he was gay and worried about his “safety.”
“I felt that there were a lot of limitations and it was not what I imagined for my life. Or, I imagined a family and got married. All those things that weren’t possible at the time, “said Cooper, who greeted his son Wyatt as a surrogate last year.
The broadcaster also said that being gay made him a better reporter, because it gives him a different perspective.
Cooper went public in an online letter in 2012.
“The fact is that I am gay, I have always been, I will always be and I could not be happier, comfortable with myself and proud,” he wrote.