CNN Anchor Don Lemon Reveals Sexuality And Being A 'Double Minority'

In September of last year, Don Lemon made the extraordinary admission on live TV that he was victimized by a pedophile as a child. Months later, the CNN anchor is releasing a book that carries on that spirit of openness by speaking publicly for the first time about his being gay and what that means for an African-American man.




"I'm scared," he told The New York Times on Sunday. "I'm talking about something that people might shun me for, ostracize me for."


Lemon, 45, told the Times that "it's about the worst thing you can be in black culture" to be a gay male. "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. I guess this makes me a double minority now."


The journalist's colleagues at CNN have been aware of his sexuality for years, but Lemon decided while writing his book, 'Transparent,' that he was going to go all in and embrace the truth.


"I abhor hypocrisy," he said. "I think if you're going to be in the business of news, and telling people the truth, of trying to shed light in dark places, then you've got to be honest. You've got to have the same rules for yourself as you do for everyone else."


Lemon also acknowledged that people are going to tie his victimization as a child to being gay. "People are going to say: 'Oh, he was molested as a kid and now he is coming out.' I get it," he said.


'Transparent' has been dedicated to Tyler Clementis, the Rutgers student who committed suicide after his roommate secretly used a webcam to broadcast his sexual encounter with another man.


He also noted that in a perfect world it would be ideal if all the closed TV news personalities would publicly acknowledge being gay, but he knows better than anyone that you need to go at your own speed.


"I think it would be great if everybody could be out," he said. "But it's such a personal choice. People have to do it at their own speed. I respect that. I do have to say that the more people who come out, the better it is for everyone, certainly for the Tyler Clementi's of the world."