MSNBC host Thomas Roberts is set to become the first openly gay news anchor to get married. The New York Observer reports:
Mr. Roberts says his late-September wedding to Patrick Abner, of Merck Pharmaceuticals’ HIV/AIDS division, and his public persona as a gay man, are unlikely to hurt his career at MSNBC—not least because, unlike certain newly out cable newsmen, he makes no claims to objectivity. “I am not objective when it comes to equality. And that means for all. I want it for you, for me, for everybody … It’s written in our Constitution: life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, and what’s wrong with talking about that? Nothing.” The Manhattan wedding is to have about 150 guests, and Mr. Roberts’s attention has been diverted by the process of shedding unwanted weight. “I was on the treadmill for three miles this morning. I will be on it for three miles tomorrow. I had a Red Bull for lunch and I eat gum. I’m the typical groom!” His desk was cluttered not merely with his lunch—a pack of peppermint—but also an academic text on Loving v. Virginia and an MSNBC briefing packet on Mitt Romney’s vice-presidential options.
Roberts and Abner have been together for 12 years. I met them this spring at the Night Of 1000 Gowns, but dammit it all to hell that photo of us came out blurry.
