NEW YORK – Anderson Cooper revealed on Monday that he is gay, ending years of reluctance to talk about his personal life in public.

The CNN journalist wrote in an online letter that he had kept his sexual orientation private for personal and professional reasons, but came to think that remaining silent had given some people a mistaken impression that he was ashamed.

"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," he wrote in the letter, published by Andrew Sullivan of the Daily Beast.