The religious right is targeting new dad Anderson Cooper with anti-gay attacks

[Behind the Aegis]

CNN anchor Anderson Cooper announced the birth of his son last week, showing off photos of himself and the newborn on his show. The gay journalist beamed as he told the audience about his then-three day old baby.

But the religious right appears unable to share Cooper’s happiness, as one prominent evangelical leader rushed to say he feels only “sadness for him and for you.”

“As a gay kid, I never thought it would be possible to have a child, and I’m grateful for all those who have paved the way, and for the doctors and nurses and everyone involved in my son’s birth,” Cooper said on-air.

--snip---

The anti-LGBTQ activist accused Cooper of ripping the child away from his mother, claiming, “Wyatt will be separated from birth from his mother by choice, and not his own.”

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[spanone]

1. They are sad and anything but religious.

[TomSlick]

13. Religious enough, just not particularly Christian.

At least not as Jesus would have recognized the idea.

[mokawanis]

2. Pretty sure Wyatt will grow up in an environment much healthier

than anything that evangelical leader could provide for a child.

[still_one]

4. +++

[still_one]

3. Just outrageous the bigots out there

[Midnight Writer]

5. If Cooper had ripped the child from it's Mother's arms as she crossed our border, that would be OK?

[Budi]

10. My exact 1st thought as well

[LastDemocratInSC]

11. Excellent point.

[TDale313]

6. Wish I could say I was surprised.

☹️ So much hate.

[Joinfortmill]

7. So happy for Anderson.

[ProfessorGAC]

8. He Expected As Much

He's way to smart to not have anticipated this.
He must not let it bother him, because he announced the birth on international TV.
He's prepared to let some run off his back, and fire back at some.
I just know this has to be the case.

[Budi]

9. He was so proud to tell of his new son on his show. He was in tears!

Mean people stuck in an ancient ideology that's long outlived it's relevance to society. They just suck.


Here is dad Anderson & son Wyatt

[Buckeyeblue]

12. Wyatt has a much better life than they ever will...

I think in some ways that pisses them off.

[Ms. Toad]

14. I'm sure he expected it -

And, as a mom of a child conceived by donor insemination - my guess is he spent a lot of time thinking about the issues they voiced from a thoughtful perspective before he chose this route.

Separating biology and carrying a child from being a parent doesn't have to be the disaster the religious groups are predicting - and doesn't have to mean that Wyatt cannot have a relationship with his biological/surrogate mom.

The only certainty is that it doesn't automatically happen the way it usually does in mixed-gender, fertile couples - in which biological parents raise a child together. It has to be a conscious decision. Our daughter started expressing the loss of a father when she was 5 years old. We were unable to find him via the medical records of the insemination. But, as an adult, her biological father's wife found her through 23 & me. She's been invited to be "as much a part of their crazy family as she wants." We've met them - and our daughter has met her 3 half-siblings and a ton of extended family from the third branch of her family.

I wish Cooper and Wyatt a glorious and messy new kind of family.