Today is National Coming Out Day, a project from the Human Rights Campaign that is designed to "[promote] values of honesty and openness about being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender on campus, in the workplace and at home."

I'm already out to pretty much everyone, with the notable exception of my family, which is sort of ironic as HRC's theme for this year's day is 'Come Out as a Family.' But since I can't come out to or with my family and transcribe all the gory details, I thought I'd share a different story.

A million years ago, when I was a freshman in high school, I discovered the wonder that is Anderson Cooper. Sure, now he's on CNN every night, but back then he was on the graveyard shift at World News Now and I was mad crushing on him. I joined an email list organized for discussion of his poise, talent and good looks. Not long after that, I got an email from another list member who was 'excited to see another guy on the list.'

We emailed back and forth, introducing ourselves to each other and all that jazz. Somewhere along the line, he told me he was gay, and I let him have it with both my fourteen-year old barrels. I'm not sure what I said exactly, but I know it was fueled by fear, denial masked as religious superiority and fun stuff like that. In short, I was gay and I knew it, but I was too scared of church to actually do anything about it. Anyway, I gave him some crazy Bible-quoting speech and got this email in response:

hell is for children. A lot of people aren't afraid to go outside of their parent's teachings. You let a book control your whole life. No book has ever caused more bloodshed than the Bible, and lastly, as one can plainly see from your letter, Christianity is the school of hate.

Why would I give you my URL? So you can make me an example of how 'immoral' I am?

Any guy that belongs to this list HAS to be gay. You don't belong to a male celebrity's fan-list just because you think he's "funny" and "smart".

You have issues you need to come to terms with...

Not content to be bitch-slapped once, I fired back another Jesus-friendly, gay-not-so-friendly message, but this guy was prepared:

See, the problem with 'your people' is you've been fed lies upon lies and now the truth is so distorted you can't see it.

First of all people are born gay. Think about this: people say we 'choose' to be gay. When did you decide you'd be straight? ans. � You didn't. I can choose to live a lie like so many gay people do and get married and have kids then years of misery down the road leave the wife and kids because that�s not who I really am. Look at all the lives torn apart by the lie.

You have to be your true self. God did NOT make me gay so that he could get his jollies and condemn me to hell for it. That would be cruel. And if that's how your God is I don't want any part of that. Hatred is not what life is about. Love is.

Being gay is not about sex. We are not child molesters. We do not sleep with hundreds of partners. (Why do straight people to get to sleep with lots of people though and that seems to be ok?)

I could go on and on but won't waste any more time.

Look, you're only 14. Don't get caught up in decades of stupidity. And don't think we don't believe in God. Learn to think for yourself and don't give in to other people's sad and pathetic misconceptions. You truly have no idea. And it's not your fault.

I hope you learn to love and accept people for who they are. peace.

He called my shit out, y'all. I'm eighteen now and I've heard a lot of these arguments over and over again, but my impressionable fourteen-year old mind filed them away somewhere in the back with the Playgirl I found at an open house when I was twelve.

It wasn't until years later that I actually began to deal with my sexuality in any real way, and one day I found these emails. They were nothing profound, nothing special really. Just one guy reaching out, presenting an alternative viewpoint, doing his part.

He didn't 'recruit' me. These emails weren't the reason or the catalyst for my own homosexuality. As I hope (he and) I have made clear, no one chooses to be gay. The only choice you make is the choice to live an honest life. And when you're scared, confused, and theoretically the only gay person in the world, it helps to know that at least one other person who thinks Anderson Cooper is hot has been through the fire.

This guy didn't have to do anything, but he went out of his way to let me know that there's more than one way to look at the world. And in doing so, he made my life a little easier.

Thank you, anonymous Anderson Cooper fan. You are my hero.

Someone got here by searching for: lesbian mother diaryland Reading: The TWoP forums. Give me a break. It's Saturday. Listening to: Dexter Freebish. Watching: The first-ever unsucktastic episode of Hope & Faith. You go, Kelly Ripa. Wearing: My new Ghetto Mexican T-shirt! Yay! Craving: GM's cheese dip. It's yummy.