On the season premiere of his syndicated talk show today, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper talked about why he decided to come out over the Summer.

Co-host Kristen Chenowith egged him on toward the top of the program, saying “Anyway, I think we both had big summers. Am I wrong?”

“Yeah, I guess. I did have a big summer,” Cooper replied.

It just got to the point where I’ve been torn for a long time between a desire as a reporter to just do my job and be known as a reporter and at the same time I do think visibility is important. I do think that the tide of history only moves forward when everyone is fully visible. I think it is important just to, I didn’t want to send a message that there was anything I was ashamed about or unhappy about or not comfortable with. That was the main thing for me. I appreciate all the support I got and all the encouragement. I am the same person I always was, I do the job just the same way.

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