12:56 p.m. | Updated The television journalist Anderson Cooper, the biggest star on CNN, on Monday publicly identified himself as gay. He was concerned, he said, that his long-held silence on the matter had led some to believe that he was uncomfortable or ashamed of his sexuality.

Mr. Cooper came out in an e-mail message to Andrew Sullivan, the openly gay blogger for The Daily Beast, which was republished in full with his permission. The e-mail affirmed what had been an open secret in Manhattan and media circles for years, but had never been addressed publicly by Mr. Cooper.