CNN's Thomas Roberts

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 reports that Roberts said he was proud of his partner and that staying in the closet was a difficult thing for a national news anchor. "When you hold something back, that's all everyone wants to know," Diaz quotes Roberts as saying in a report on his blog, Beantown Cuban.

Unfortunately, those tuning in to see Roberts will no longer find him on CNN Headline News. Reuters reported Tuesday that a shuffling of desk chairs at CNN for budgetary reasons will mean the cancellation of the 4–6 p.m. newscast coanchored by Roberts. He and his coanchor, Kathleen Kennedy, are reportedly being reassigned. (The Advocate)

Biography

Thomas Roberts (born October 5, 1972) is an American news anchor and reporter who works for CNN Headline News.

Childhood and education
Born Thomas Allen Roberts, he grew up in Towson, Maryland. and attended Calvert Hall, a Catholic high school in nearby Baltimore. He graduated from Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College) in 1994, earning a degree in mass communication and journalism.

Early career
After college Roberts got his first job reporting for a small cable station in Westminster, Maryland. He then moved to San Diego, California and worked as writer/field producer for NBC affiliate KNSD before relocating to Nebraska, where he worked as a general assignment reporter with ABC affiliate KLKN-TV in Lincoln, Nebraska.

He went on to become a nightly news anchor and investigative reporter for FOX affiliate WFTX-TV in Fort Myers, Florida and later for NBC affiliate WAVY-TV in Norfolk-Virginia Beach, Virginia. At WAVY-TV Thomas co-anchored an afternoon newscast and was also the station's investigative/consumer correspondent.

CNN
Roberts joined CNN in December 2001 and is based in Atlanta. He has worked as an anchor and correspondent mainly for CNN Headline News and at times contributing to CNN. During his years with Headline News he has co-anchored with Judy Fortin, Sophia Choi, and Kathleen Kennedy.

He co-anchored the network's coverage of the shuttle Columbia tragedy in 2003 and its ongoing Iraq war coverage. He received an Emmy nomination in 2002 for his investigation into a local puppy mill that was eventually shut down due to his reporting, according to CNN.

On September 12, 2006, Reuters reported that the 4-6 p.m. newscast co-anchored by Roberts had been cancelled, due to budgetary considerations. Roberts will continue to anchor Headline News on the weekend, as well as report during the week.

Victim of sexual abuse
In 2005, Roberts, after years of silence, came forward to testify against a priest who abused him when he was a student at Calvert Hall.

Sexual orientation and coming out
Roberts publicly acknowledged that he is gay while speaking at the annual convention of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association in Miami, which was held on 8 September 2006. His comments were first made public by journalist Johnny Diaz, a staff reporter on the Boston Globe's living/arts section who attended the conference and wrote about it on his blog, Beantown Cuban.Diaz's report quickly was picked up by major gay media outlets gay.com and the website of the gay news magazine The Advocate The report also was cited on canada.com.

Along with Craig Stevens, a co-anchor of Miami's Channel 7, and other local gay anchors, Roberts was a member of a panel called "Off Camera: The Challenge of LGBT TV Anchors." He 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 that Roberts, who has been a member of NLGJA since 2005," said he was proud of his partner, who was apparently unnamed, and that staying in the closet was a difficult thing for a national news anchor. "When you hold something back, that's all everyone wants to know," Diaz quotes Roberts as saying.

On 15 September 2006, Christie Keith, a reporter with the website afterelton.org, published an interview with Roberts, who stated that he actually came out to coworkers in 1999, when he was living in Norfolk, Virginia. “I was happy, I was in a relationship, and I was very proud. I had the support of family, and of my friends. It was … about not wasting any more time. I'd wasted enough time.” He further commented, on the subject of coming out, "Hopefully, everyone, gay or straight, journalists or doctors or otherwise, can overcome that obstacle, because it stands in the way of you being the best you can be, with your job, with your family, with everything, and not have to be afraid anymore."

Roberts also told Keith that he had been approached in 2005 by People magazine to be one of the publication's 50 Sexiest Bachelors, but he declined. “I'm not a bachelor. I thought it would be false advertising… [And] I didn't think it was the right venue to talk about it.”

Partner
Roberts has been in a relationship with his unnamed partner since at least 1999, according to the afterelton.com interview, and will celebrate their anniversary on 30 September.