Christian Rightwingers Are Now Targeting New Father Anderson Cooper With Anti-Gay Attacks

A prominent evangelical leader and anti-LGBT activist has launched an all-out attack on CNN anchor Anderson Cooper after he announced the birth of his son last week.

“As a gay kid, I never thought it would be possible to have a child, and I’m grateful for all those who have paved the way, and for the doctors and nurses and everyone involved in my son’s birth,” Cooper said on-air as he introduced viewers to his newborn son, Wyatt Morgan Cooper.

“Most of all, I am grateful to a remarkable surrogate who carried Wyatt, and watched over him lovingly, and tenderly, and gave birth to him. It is an extraordinary blessing – what she, and all surrogates, give to families who can’t have children,” Cooper said.

In a blog post titled, “To Anderson Cooper: A Son Deserves His Mother,” Charisma News’ Michael Brown argues that “a boy deserves his mother, yet if I understand your plan correctly, your son will not be raised together by her and by you. That’s what saddens me the most.”

“Can you imagine what your life would look like today without the influence of your mother? Can you imagine Anderson Cooper without Gloria Vanderbilt?” Brown asks, invoking the memory of his late mother. “Who would you be without your mom? Think back to all the memories the two of you share, especially since you lost your dad at the age of 10.”

Brown also attacked Cooper’s previous statement fondly remembering the final days he spent with his mother.

“Anderson, if those nine days were so precious to you, the culmination of your lifelong relationship with your mother, shouldn’t Wyatt have the opportunity to have his mother as well?” Brown writes.

Brown then accused Cooper of ripping the child away from his mother, claiming, “Wyatt will be separated from birth from his mother by choice, and not his own.”

“That’s the difference between your situation and that of a woman whose husband abandons the family. She is now a single mom and her kids are deprived of their dad, but not by her choice.”

Cooper told CNN viewers he decided to name his son in honor of his late father, who passed away when he was just 10, saying, “I hope I can be as good a dad as he was.”