Chatter: Dan Choi on Anderson Cooper and The Closet

"I know that I will not make a lot of friends by saying this but anybody who is in the closet professionally or in the closet publicly or just neutrally not out yet, but gets their emotional and sexual and familial support and happiness and health on the backs of those who have been out, who opened those gay bars, who became business leaders in the gay community, who were proud and out and sacrificed sometimes in a discriminatory environment -- those people, who would rather climb the ladder and who would rather show that they have in themselves an individual prowess, are exhibiting behavior of immorality because they exploit the work of others and they should feel remorse and they should come out. They must come out as soon as possible because they [should] realize that even if you spend your whole life gaining millions of dollars and building a treasure trove, that is not a weapon of consequence like the weapon of consequence of simply coming out. Coming out is our only weapon of political consequence that matters."

-- Lt. Dan Choi's reply when asked by dot429's R. Couri Hay how he feels about Anderson Cooper's refusal to officially come out of the closet.

Photo: Getty Images