“I may have some very conservative personal feelings, but I feel you have the right to live your life differently. I may think that what you do, Anderson, is gonna put you in Hell, but I’m gonna defend your right to get there," said Al Sharpton to CNN host Anderson Cooper last night during a debate about anti-gay rhetoric of James Dobson’s Focus on the Family organization.
The video clip is hitting the gay blogosphere at rapid pace.
While the CNN cameras were on a wide shot of the full in-studio panel and not on Cooper during Sharpton’s comment, Cooper seemed to keep his composure, smiling and ending the segment moments later with this comment to the panelists: "I appreciate both your concerns about my afterlife. I’m personally not all that concerned, but that’s a whole other discussion."
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I didn’t see Sharpton’s statement as an attempt to single out Cooper’s lifestyle for censure (or damnation). Instead, I saw it as a rhetorical device meant to engage the audience in what had become a very abstract discussion. I think Sharpton would have done the same thing if he had been interviewed by Larry King or Katie Couric.
Because there has been a fair amount of speculation concerning AC’s sexuality, it’s possible that people are overly sensitized to statements about his personal life.