Thomas Roberts, the MSNBC reporter and the first cable news anchor to ever come out, is set to marry his partner, Merck Pharmaceuticals community liaison Patrick Abner, this September. The couple, who have been together for fourteen years, are planning the wedding in Manhattan, where about 150 guests will attend. Originally planning on wedding in California before the passing of Prop. 8, the anchor is excited to be having it this time around in NYC. "This time around, we feel very confident in the fact that we're prepared, and people know it's really happening..."
After coming out at a national journalism convention in 2006, Roberts bounced from CNN to tabloid show The Insider, before landing his current role at MSNBC. And, since working with the new network, Roberts has no problem discussing his unbiased reporting style. "I am not objective when it comes to equality. And that means for all. I want it for you, for me, for everybody," he tells The New York Observer.
Despite being more than open about his upcoming nuptials, Roberts is ready to but to bed another topic: Anderson Cooper's coming out. "Now people can stop asking me when do you think Anderson's going to come out. I've had that for years," he told The Observer. Roberts, who came out well before Cooper did last month, believes that the timing was right for his former colleague at CNN. "I think it's great...I think he's in a place now where he wants that personal-professional synergy. And he deserves that."
