After joking on air that Zachary's announcement makes him rethink his policy about not dating actors, Dan Kloeffler of 'World News Now' explains in a blog post why he too decided to come out.
- Oct 18, 2011
AceShowbiz - Zachary Quinto apparently has inspired another public figure to come out of the closet. While reporting on the "Star Trek" actor's decision to publicly acknowledge his sexuality, ABC's "World News Now" anchor Dan Kloeffler let it slip on early Monday, October 17 morning that he too is gay.
Keeping a light tone to his on-air revelation, Dan joked that the "Heroes" star's announcement makes him rethink his personal policy against dating actors. "He's 34, I'm 35 - I'm thinking, I can lose my distraction about dating actors for that one, maybe," the TV journalist quipped.
Dan later explained why he decided to come out in a blog post on ABC News' website. "I've never shared that I'm gay on-air, even though I've been out to my family, friends and co-workers for years," he wrote. "In fact, an old boyfriend - now best friend - has always given me a hard time about not doing so."
"But for the same reason that Zach decided to come out, I too, no longer wanted to hide this part of my life," he elaborated. "There have been too many tragic endings and too many cases of bullying because of intolerance. As a kid I wanted someone to look up to, someone that could relate to the feelings I was having. Most of all, I wanted to know that it would get better."
Stressing that it did get better, Dan continued on sharing what he hopes to accomplish by coming out. "As a journalist, I don't want to be the story," he noted, "but as a gay man I don't want to stand silent if I can offer some inspiration or encouragement to kids that might be struggling with who they are."
