by Shaun Knittel - SGN Associate Editor

In an interview that has garnered much attention, out Lesbian MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow sent a clear message to closeted Gay news anchors: come out.

Maddow made the comment in an interview with The Guardian of London, which was published April 25.

Here is part of the exchange:

'Does [Maddow] 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.'

The immediate reaction from the mainstream media and blog writers was that she was referring to CNN's Anderson Cooper, who has never acknowledged or denied that he is Gay.

Maddow responded to the internet chatter in a blog post Monday evening, saying that she was not singling anyone out.

'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,' she wrote. 'I don't tend to be shy when I criticize - you wouldn't have to read between the lines if that's what I was trying to do.'

She then went on to explain her 'basic beliefs' about 'the ethics of coming out.' In summary, 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, and closeted people should reasonably expect to be outed by other Gay people if (and only if) they prey on the Gay community in public.

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

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