"Young Ladies Still Come After Me Even Though I'm Gay" - Anderson Cooper

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 CNN's Anderson Cooper has said that his decision to come out as gay has not stopped some persistent female admirers from trying to seduce him. Cooper joked that he decided to come out in July 2012 because he wanted to get more interested men, but said that there are still some 'very determined young ladies'. 'Being born gay is one of the great blessings of my life,' he said during a talk at the University of Texas-Arlington on Monday night. The 46-year-old has been in a long term relationship with partner Ben Maisani since 2009 and the couple lives together in his converted firehouse in Manhattan's West Village.

There was speculation that the pair split shortly after Cooper came out since Maisani was spotted kissing another man in Central Park but they have appeared to moved past it. Cooper and Maisani, who owns a number of bars in New York, were seen together at a friend's club opening in September but tend to keep a low profile. For years, Cooper kept his sexuality a secret to the public but was open with his friends and colleagues, claiming that it was because he thought that it would interfere with his work overseas in less tolerant countries. He explained that further during the talk on the college campus, with the school's newspaper The Shorthorn reporting that he said it made him less anonymous. 'It's harder to tell a story when people know about you,' the CNN anchor said. 

***NB: The 2nd pic is Anderson and his gay partner, Maisani