Gay or straight? It is the question many have wondered about when it comes to top CNN anchor and correspondent, Anderson Cooper. The veteran reporter who is intensely private about his personal life has long refused to address the matter of his sexual orientation, until now.

In an emailed message to his friend Andrew Sullivan, a reporter with American news site, the Daily Beast, Anderson Cooper came out publicly as a gay man.

Sullivan, who posted the email message on the Daily Beast today, with Cooper’s consent, said he had asked Cooper to weigh in on an Entertainment Weekly report about homosexuals in the public eye coming out in a more restrained and matter-of-fact manner.

Cooper, who has for years evaded or outright ignored insinuations, speculations and blatant inquiries about his sexual orientation, finally decided it was time to clear the air.

In the letter, the anchor said the reason he had chosen to maintain his silence on the matter for so long and “retain some privacy” was for “professional reasons”.

“Since I started as a reporter in war zones 20 years ago, I’ve often found myself in some very dangerous places. For my safety and the safety of those I work with, I try to blend in as much as possible, and prefer to stick to my job of telling other people’s stories, and not my own. I have found that sometimes the less an interview subject knows about me, the better I can safely and effectively do my job as a journalist,” the email reads in part.

Cooper admits, however, that perhaps striving to maintain some distance between his private life and his very public professional one might have given some the illusion that he lives in shame or is “trying to hide something”.

That, he says, “is distressing because it is simply not true”.

The top CNN anchor says he now sees the “value in making clear where I stand”, explaining that “the tide of history only advances when people make themselves fully visible”.

“The fact is, I’m gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn’t be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud,” Anderson Cooper stated.

Cooper says he has never hidden this part of his life from his friends, family and colleagues. He maintains that his private life is still no one else’ business, but is proud to stand up and be counted.

The star reporter who continues to enjoy a brilliant career as a journalist of note says he feels “very blessed to have had so many opportunities as a journalist”. But adds, “I am also blessed far beyond having a great career. I love, and I am loved”.

Read Anderson Cooper’s full email message on the Daily Beast.

We include the video below, because it is one of his finest reporting moments… well the one we love the most.