Anchor of CNN's Headline News Comes Out

CNN anchor Thomas Roberts acknowledged that he is gay while speaking at the annual convention for the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association in Miami last weekend. According to Boston-based journalist Johnny Diaz, Roberts was speaking on a panel when he made the announcement, saying it was the "biggest step" he had taken to really being out in public and that he had slowly been coming out at CNN over the past several years.

Diaz reports that Roberts said he was proud of his partner and that staying in the closet was a difficult thing for a national news anchor. "When you hold something back, that's all everyone wants to know," Diaz quotes Roberts as saying in a report on his blog, Beantown Cuban.

Unfortunately, those tuning in to see Roberts will no longer find him on CNN Headline News. Reuters reported Tuesday that a shuffling of desk chairs at CNN for budgetary reasons will mean the cancellation of the 4-6 p.m. newscast coanchored by Roberts. He and his coanchor, Kathleen Kennedy, are reportedly being reassigned. (The Advocate)