CNN's Thomas Roberts Comes Out

Anchorman for CNN's Headline News, Thomas Roberts, came out to fellow journalists while speaking at the annual convention of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association in Miami.

According to Boston Globe journalist Johnny Diaz, Roberts told the audience that the conference was the "biggest step" he had taken to really be out in public and that he had slowly been coming out at CNN over the past several years.

Diaz reported on his blog that Roberts said he was proud of his partner and that staying in the closet was a difficult thing for a national news anchorman. "When you hold something back, that's all everyone wants to know," Roberts said.

Roberts has received numerous honors and awards, including a 2002 Emmy nomination as well as the 2002 Virginia AP Award in the Documentary/In-Depth Category for "Parvo Puppies," an investigation into a local Virginia/North Carolina puppy mill which was eventually shut down due to Roberts' investigative report. He also received a 2001 Edward R. Murrow Award for a documentary he produced, and readers of The Virginian Pilot voted him "favorite male anchor." In 2005, Jezebel magazine named him one of the "50 Most Beautiful Atlantans."