Gay MSNBC anchor to host beauty pageant in Russia

Thomas Roberts, an openly gay anchor at MSNBC, will co-host the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow next month, according to a column he wrote for MSNBC.com

Thomas Roberts/MSNBC

"I am a good person, good spouse, good child, good sibling, good friend and hard worker. That is me," Roberts wrote. "I am just like millions of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people around the world. We are good, regular, hard-working people who come from solid families. So when I heard there was a chance at this assignment I aggressively went after it. Lo and behold the Miss Universe team, NBC Entertainment & the Trump team agreed and offered it to me."

Russia recently passed anti-gay legislation that bans "nontraditional" sexual relations among minors as well as the "promotion" of such relations.

"I go to prove there’s hope," Roberts wrote in the column.

Roberts married his longtime partner in October 2012.

h/t BuzzFeed