Rachel Maddow to Other News Anchors: 'If You're Gay You Have a Responsibility to Come Out

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow is one of a few openly gay anchors on television---and in an interview with the British Guardian, she said that if there are any other gay anchors out there, they have a responsibility to come out of the closet (via HuffPo).

The Guardian:

Maddow is one of the very few gay news anchors in America – well, one of the very few openly gay news anchors. Does she feel frustration towards an equally well-known news presenter who is widely assumed to be gay but has never come out? For the first time, Maddow pauses: "I'm sure other people in the business have considered reasons why they're doing what they're doing, but I do think that if you're gay you have a responsibility to come out," she says carefully.

Though some have speculated whether she was referring to Anderson Cooper here, Maddow put that rumor to rest in a blog post that appeared on her website (via Mediaite).

Regarding The Guardian interview that's getting a lot of pickup today: in that interview, I wasn't asked about Anderson Cooper, I didn't say anything about him, he literally was never discussed during the interview at all -- even implicitly.

...

Media-about-media today notwithstanding, I did not in my interview with The Guardian say anything about or to Mr. Cooper, nor would I. Although criticism of Mr. Cooper was intimated by The Guardian and picked up everywhere -- I did not make that criticism in the interview, nor did I imply it, nor is it what I believe.

She also explained her "ethics of coming out":

I've long held three basic beliefs about the ethics of coming out:

Gay people -- generally speaking -- have a responsibility to our own community and to future generations of gay people to come out, if and when we feel that we can.

We should all get to decide for ourselves the "if and when we feel that we can" part of that.

Closeted people should reasonably expect to be outed by other gay people if (and only if) they prey on the gay community in public, but are secretly gay themselves.

I also believe that coming out makes for a happier life, but that's not a matter of ethics, that's just corny advice.

Read her blog post here. And read her full Guardian interview here.