ANDERSON COOPER TWEETS THAT HE IS GAY, SETTING OF A TWITTER STORM

Anderson Cooper’s admission that he is gay quickly became one of the hottest topics on Facebook and Twitter today (Friday), with numerous celebrities, including Ellen DeGeneres, Neil Patrick Harris, Joan Rivers, Kelly Ripa, Lance Bass, LeAnn Rimes, and Mia Farrow tweeting their congratulations. Cooper himself responded. “I appreciate all the nice tweets. I am in Botswana working but want to wish everyone a great 4th of July!”On Monday, in an email message to TheDailyBeast.com columnist Andrew Sullivan, Cooper confirmed the rumors about his sexual orientation that have appeared in gossip columns and blogs for years. “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,” the CNN anchor wrote to Sullivan. Today’s New York Times commented that until recently Cooper’s announcement would have been seen as a potential career-iller. “But then, on Monday, it happened. And the TV nation seemed to shrug.” That was not necessarily the case, as his announcement quickly became the subject of dozens, if not hundreds, of articles in newspapers and websites. But the expected conservative backlash has so far not materialized. The closest to it was this dig from Rush Limbaugh: “It may be the best ratings move CNN has made in I don’t know how long. … We’ll find out. Yeah, maybe 120,000 [viewers] — up from 115,000.”