by Rex Wockner
National News Briefs
Openly gay actor Neil Patrick Harris from TV's "How I Met Your Mother" tells Out magazine in its September issue that he wants to be a role model for normal gay people.
"I'm striving to be an example of normalcy," Harris said. "Because I'm noticed as an actor, people are aware of what's happening in my life. … I'm a big proponent of monogamous relationships regardless of sexuality, and I'm proud of how the nation is steering toward that. Then you can look around and say, 'I really deeply feel like I'm in love with this person, there are people who feel the same thing, and those models are normal.' The 'normal' couples were sort of in the shadows for the past 15 or 20 years because you sort of needed other people to come forward and speak out."
In a more lighthearted moment, Harris told Out he thinks CNN anchorman Anderson Cooper is dreamy and is not a candidate for outing.
"He's dreamy. Just dreamy," Harris said. "I've been a fan of his since season one of The Mole. I just thought he was so cool when he talked in this cool, low, secret-agent voice — 'If you can accomplish this task…'"
Harris continued: "Listen, no one can tell anyone how big their steps should be or when they can take them. You can take issue with someone making overtly denying statements, and you can take issue with people straight-up presenting themselves as someone that they're not — because I think that's kind of shady and not very stand-up. But you can't fault someone for going through the process at their own time."
In May 2007, Out put two models on its cover holding pictures of Cooper and Jodie Foster in front of their faces above the words, "The Glass Closet: Why the Stars Won't Come Out and Play."
