CNN’s Don Lemon says he’s gay
CREDIT: CNN
CNN’s Don Lemon, who last year stunned audiences when he said he was molested as a child, has revealed he is gay.
Lemon, 45, has a new memoir coming out called “Transparent.” He told Bill Carter of the New York Times of the inherent risks of coming out as a news personality.
“I’m scared,” he said to the Times. “I’m talking about something that people might shun me for, ostracize me for.”
Although some TV personalities are out, most notably Rachel Maddow of MSNBC, he said being a black male makes it even tougher to be gay.
“It’s about the worst thing you can be in black culture. You’re taught you have to be a man; you have to be masculine. In the black community they think you can pray the gay away.”
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436 comments Add your comment
Lenard
May 16th, 2011
11:43 am
My lil girl is 8 years old. I hope there will still be MEN left for her when she old enough to marry. Why is it that so many Gay men say they where molested but also say they were born gay which is it? Dude i passed u in the mall i could tell u was gay…But who you do in your bedroom keep it to yourself just et the news right. But i gotta tell u missing out on Fine women in the ATL.
NoWay
May 16th, 2011
11:44 am
Why don’t you straight people stop shoving your orientation down my throat. Why do should I have to see husband and wife holding hands or kissing in public? Why should I have to walk be your desk at work and see a photo of your spouse? Why do you flaunt your straight marriage by wearing a wedding ring in public? Why do staight newlyweds see the need to announce to the entire world that they are married through newspaper articles? Why can’t you keep this important part of your life covered in secrecy?
steve
May 16th, 2011
11:44 am
Keep your head up my brotha! I am an African-American male who is gay and doesn’t have the courage to come out to my family, friends and co-workers. Many days I am mentally exhausted living a double life. Maybe this will give me the courage to come out like you. Thanks again and good luck!!
NoWay
May 16th, 2011
11:46 am
Lenard, being gay does NOT equal being molested. Please don’t speak of something about which you know nothing.
What will you do if your daughter turns out to be gay?
Billy Davis
May 16th, 2011
11:50 am
Even Stevie Wonder could have seen this guy is gay. Listening to his upbringing his closeness to only the women in his family and his mannerisms spoke to it. However, it doesn’t matter Don Lemon you are good reporter so continued success to you.
Sharon
May 16th, 2011
11:53 am
The Bible says to guard your affairs with discretion – what you do is your bedroom is your business. You are more than your sexual preference.
carlaroqs
May 16th, 2011
11:55 am
@tony, i feel sorry for you, but like someone else has already said:people like you need to stop speaking on behalf of a whole dang race. my family and friends do not want drug dealers in our families. homosexuals do not kill their race with their trade, except in the instance i first mentioned. drug dealers have no souls: they lie, they steal, they kill and they cause those they buy from and sell to do the same. sorry someone hurt your feelings along the way, but stop making it a Black thing.
ted turner
May 16th, 2011
11:55 am
Wait – that’s TJ Holmes, right? TJ is gay?! I get those two mixed up all the time.
Oh Gee!!
May 16th, 2011
11:57 am
One of the issues regarding being gay, lesbian, etc…is that many of them say they were born that way. How can one know when they are “born” that they’d rather sleep with the same sex person as opposed to the opposite sex person? I’m a heterosexual female, and I don’t have ANY recollection as an infant thinking that I wanted to sleep with a man once I got older. Where does this come from? Who the devil has any recollection of their emotional leanings when they were born? Nonsense!!!
CLEMSONDUDE
May 16th, 2011
11:57 am
He’s 45????!! I thought he was in his 30’s….he looks great!
Brenda
May 16th, 2011
11:57 am
Hey NoWay – I guess you understand the defination of “your orientation” to mean “the direction of an individual’s sexuality with respect to the sex of the persons the individual finds sexually attractive”. I find this guy cute and sexually attractive but that doesn’t make my orientation any different. There is just “no way” I can understand how you would prefer the same sex over the opposite sex. Also how do you “turn out to be gay”?
Peepeye
May 16th, 2011
12:00 pm
See Bishop Long, er I mean Edwina………………it’s OK to come out of the closet.
Adam
May 16th, 2011
12:01 pm
I’m a STRAIGHT flight attendant and the first time I saw him in my life was on one of my flights and it was very apparent he was gay. There were 3 vacant seats in the row but him and his “friend” were sitting unheterosexully without a seat in between them. He was in coach but said he was usually in first class so I hooked them up with drinks. After that I saw him on CNN I was like there is that same guy. He really was a cool cat.
Sean Jenkins
May 16th, 2011
12:02 pm
Good for you Mr. Lemon! Regardless to what anyone has to say about you being truthful to yourself and your God, just be comfortable in knowing you did this to please you and not anyone else.
It takes a strong man to do what you have done and God will praise, as well as, reward you for simply being TRUTHFUL.
There’s too many people who call themselves Christians and live underneath lie after lie, but you have choosen to come clean. God Bless you my brotha.
dano
May 16th, 2011
12:02 pm
strictly dickly ain’t no big thang….you do a good job on the homeboy network, so keep it up (no pun)….yeah ima white straight boy…
RS
May 16th, 2011
12:02 pm
Ummm…you know what? I don’t give a ratz batooty if the anchors on CNN or gay/straight/whatever…..who you sleep with at night is irrelevant information.
NBW
May 16th, 2011
12:03 pm
@ CNN FAN, yeah he does wear a wedding band. But I was confused because some days he would have it on and other days he wouldn’t. That instantly had me thinking that he was gay but trying to steer others from thinking that he was. I’m sure the “u have never been married” question came up all of the time and maybe he wore the ring to avoid questions??
I kinda figured that he was gay because he would respond to a lot of gay guys on twitter who would tell him that hes cute, etc. I cant see a straight guy doing that. Also, last night I was on amazon.com and I read a preview of his book and he dedicated it to Tyler Clemeniti(sp?) the young man who jumped off the bridge after roommates streamed him having sex with another guy. Don wrote that he wanted young kids to know that they are not alone and I said to myself,,OMG hes trying to tell us something and sure enough couple of hours later, he released the statement.
He said that many of his CNN coworkers knew that he was gay and that hes been dating a CNN producer for 4years.
Independent Thinker
May 16th, 2011
12:06 pm
Hell if you ever paid any attention to his demeanor on TV, any straight person to tell he is GAY!!!!, just like Anderson Cooper and Lawrence Odonnell of MSNBC. You can come out the closet when its written all over your face, coming out the closet is just to make Don feel better.
Atlanta 1
May 16th, 2011
12:06 pm
I don’t care if he is Gay. Just report the news honestly. Your own business is your own business; just tell the truth when your in front of the camera.
Ryan
May 16th, 2011
12:09 pm
TG, your not a very bright person, are you? “broadcasting what you do in bed”? I didn’t hear the guy say what he wanted to do in bed, just like I’m not told by the couple whose wedding I’m attending and compelled to give a gift to tell me what they do. Did Wills and Kate announce what they do in the bedroom? No. But they did broadcast the fact that they’re “straight”. I wish they’d just have “kept it in the bedroom”. I’m sure the 2Billion people who watched the royal wedding would agree.
NoWay
May 16th, 2011
12:11 pm
Brenda, by sexual preference do you mean do I prefer sex or no sex? My sexual preference is “yes”, LOL My sexual orientation is lesbian. When was the moment that you decided to become straight and attracted to men? I am assuming that it was not a choice that you made but rather something that you just felt was natural for you.
I do not know why I “turned out to be gay”. I only know it was never a choice for me. I tried marriage with a wonderful man. I dated many guys in my younger years. I did it to appease my religious family. I made MANY lives miserable because I was not leading an authentic life.
I think many men are handsome. I, however, do not want to be physically intimate with any of them. The very thought of it grosses me out (as it did when I was married).
How do you know you are not a lesbian? Maybe you just haven’t met the right woman yet?
JTex
May 16th, 2011
12:11 pm
It would be really refreshing if just once the people who keep talking about “behind closed doors” and “in the privacy of their own home” stopped and thought a few minutes about how silly they sound. Sexual orientation isn’t about the act of sex, though that plays a part. It’s an all-pervasive part of a person’s identity that affects virtually every aspect of our lives. Heterosexuals signal their heterosexuality constantly.
It is not about sex, people. Get over it.
matt
May 16th, 2011
12:13 pm
This is devastating! I am so so sorry that he is gay. This will hurt him as he tries to climb the ladder in broadcasting.
JTex
May 16th, 2011
12:15 pm
“Who the devil has any recollection of their emotional leanings when they were born? Nonsense!!!”
I’m trying to decide if you’re deliberately misconstruing what people mean when they say they are “born that way”, or if you are just ignorant. I’m leaning towards the latter.
itsallgoodnroanoke
May 16th, 2011
12:15 pm
I accept you being gay. I hope you are happy. I accept it because you didn’t HIDE behind a WOMAN and USE HER LIKE others do, children, family, being dishonest and YOU KNEW! This is why the gay community ger alot of strikes, Thank-you and talk to other selfish men to come out and let us know. I am straight or I am gay or I am bisexual, PLEASE!!!! God Bless YOU!
TV
May 16th, 2011
12:16 pm
He is one fine man!!!!!! I am proud of you Don and I love you as an anchor.
callinitlikeiseeit
May 16th, 2011
12:17 pm
To Don Lemon: congratulations for acccepting your life and not caring what others think. It is YOUR LIFE to live and no one elses!!! We need more strong and positive Black gay men, like you, in this society. As a Black man who is gay, I can say that most that I have encountered in the Black community feel that you can “pray the gay away” (not saying that is all in the Black community. And that is the case in racial community). So, my Brother, BE PROUD!!! You have made it a litle easier for many Black men and women of all ages (in general) to come to terms with their life (not lifestyle, as a lifestyle is something that can be here today and gone tomorrow….like money!!! Or something that is not natural like illegal drug addiction) and to not be ashamed to be who they are…. A HUMAN BEING WHO DESERVES THE RESPECT AND DIGINITY FROM ALL!!!
Pebblebeach
May 16th, 2011
12:18 pm
WeI knew this a long time ago…Don, its your business…have a great life…God still loves you…
TG
May 16th, 2011
12:18 pm
lol at Ryan asking someone if they’re “bright” as he misspells “you’re.” Poor thing. Just for clarification, his “coming out” as a homosexual translates to “I am sexually attracted to other men.” This is intimate information he would do well to keep to himself.
DontCare
May 16th, 2011
12:19 pm
My post name says it all…next..
Pam
May 16th, 2011
12:21 pm
Why do we need to know this about him? Who cares! Why do gay people feel the need to announce they’re gay?
carlaroqs
May 16th, 2011
12:22 pm
CJ–11:20 am
“carlaroqs, you need to get to the root cause of the situation. Why do some men hide it? Because so many people in our society continue to hold prejudice against gay people.” —- ummmmm, cj, homosexuality has been around as long as mankind has been around. only liars live double lives, i can bet you society is more concerned with the spread of aids from dl men to their straight women than it is with how many gay men are around. and what makes you think that men hold the market on this? do you have any idea how many women are married to men and attracted to women? again i say, this is not a racial thing, do not make it so. itis not even just a male thing. but you’d better bet your bottom dollar that under no circumstances is it okay for a gay male to sleep with women just to stay under society’s gaydar. no excuse, not valid, nada cj. and mike michaels, 11:04 am– who said he was sleeping around with women???? lets go with what rodney wrote, not with what you wish to read into his story.
Ron
May 16th, 2011
12:23 pm
Interesting how many people wants gays to “keept it to themselves”…”you dont’ have to tell people”. Sounds similar to the 50s & 60s when black people were told to “stay in their place”, “stick with their kind”.
Chaz
May 16th, 2011
12:30 pm
Well, I support any brother on Television securing roles not traditionally given to African Americans. I honestly dont care about Lemons preference of lifestyles. Just give me the news and keep it moving bruh. With that said, I was raised in a home where we understood and read the bible; and at the end of it all, as well as he speaks, looks, behaves HE STILL GOING TO HELL PER THE BIBLE. Unless everyone on here is an atheist, thats just plain gospel, sorry to be so well how can I say it “straight” with it..LMAO
Sorry to be that way, but I have to stick to my morals, again I dont discriminate or care about lifestyles, just know the higher power has the last word in all of our decisions here on earth.
Mark
May 16th, 2011
12:31 pm
Your black, gay and live in Atlanta. Well there’s a big shock there. He should have is pick of PLENTY of men down there.
Jim
May 16th, 2011
12:34 pm
Don, thank you so much for having the courage to come out of the closet. Your doing so will make it easier for those who follow you. It will also help show the rest of the world that gay people are just like anyone else, other than the fact that we were born gay. It’s a shame that we still have to be afraid when coming out to live our authentic lives. If all LGBT people would just come out, being gay would be seem no more unusual than having red hair or blue eyes. Bravo for your courage and honesty!
Chaz
May 16th, 2011
12:35 pm
And someone on here actually said, stay strong Don because God still loves you..SERIOUSLY!!!!! You might want to check the facts with God on with that one. I think he would disagree.
Kyle
May 16th, 2011
12:35 pm
If you want to shock me have someone from CNN or MSNBC come out and say they haven’t seen a few up close. That news would be just as big as if you found out one of them might be a Patriot.
Donnafrob
May 16th, 2011
12:35 pm
Loved him then, love him now.
Hmmmmm.....
May 16th, 2011
12:36 pm
@steve ~ perhaps it’s time for you to way the pros and cons. I have no doubt it’s exhausting not being able to come out to your friends and family. Most times, they already know and are simply waiting for you to take that leap. If the pros outweighs the cons and you’re at a point where you’re comfortable no matter where the chips will fall, then come out and release that stress! I wish you luck!!
RLP
May 16th, 2011
12:38 pm
For years men have married , had a family and lived a lie. Today its time to be yourself and live your life to the fulliest. When people bark about something they know nothing about dont be fooled. A hit dog will holla. When a person hates something so bad it could be because they see themselves in others. Stay strong man.
sbright
May 16th, 2011
12:39 pm
Has Shepherd Smith come out of the closet yet?
Hmmmmm.....
May 16th, 2011
12:43 pm
weigh your pros and cons…I apologize for that!
steel
May 16th, 2011
12:44 pm
So he was molested and liked it so now he’s GAY. What a setup for a reason.
No shame in the game
May 16th, 2011
12:45 pm
Ray Charles could see that Don Lemon was gay. Did he think it was not obvious? It was!!!!
RLP
May 16th, 2011
12:48 pm
God does love you man. People kill me thinking their religion is the only religion. A lot of people can not even follow what they believe. Dont get confuse with what God said in the Bible and what man said. Dont forget how traditions and things have changed over the years. Read all the bilble and not just what you want to read. God loves us all. He did create Adam and Steve. Betty and Joyce. Mark and Mindy. It is what it is.
Ezra
May 16th, 2011
12:51 pm
Now I know why CNN has been such a gay promoter. Promoting gays have been their agenda for the past 2yrs. Something about gays was on CNN every night to include the poor boy’s mom who hanged himself. Anderson Cooper allowed the gay speaker say her dead son’s death was due to being gay. I will never forgive Cooper for that nor CNN. The gays have taken over CNN. It is more liberal than ever–and disgusting.
Let the Big Dawg Eat
May 16th, 2011
12:51 pm
Wonder if Fox will hire him?
Marie
May 16th, 2011
12:52 pm
Don anyone who watches you already knew. But if makes you feel good to tell the world you’re gay — Congratulations. I also want to tell the world that I’m a black, heterosexual single female who is Christian and opposed to homosexuality. There we’re even.
Jim
May 16th, 2011
12:53 pm
After posting my thanks and supportive comment to Don, I went back through and read the comment thread. It’s wonderful to see so many supportive comments but sad to see that our society is still riddled with bigots and intolerant, ignorant people. A BIGOT IS: “a person who is utterly intolerant of any differing creed, belief, or opinion.” Are you a bigot?