Anderson Cooper Becomes the First Openly Gay Man to Moderate a Presidential Debate

Never before has an out LGBT person moderated a presidential or vice presidential debate in the general election. Anderson Cooper just changed that.

Cooper and co-moderator Martha Radiate will moderate a town-hall style debate on October 9, the second of three presidential debates. The first will occur on September 26 and will be moderated by Lester Holt of NBC News, and the last debate will take place on October 19 and will be moderated by Chris Wallace of Fox News Sunday.

Both Cooper and fellow out anchors Rachel Maddow and Don Lemon hosted various primary debates earlier this year.

Frank J. Fahrenkoph, Jr. and Michael D. McCurry, co-chairs of the Commission on Presidential Debates, released the following statement:

These journalists bring extensive experience to the job of moderating, and understand the importance of using expanded time periods effectively...We are grateful for their willingness to moderate, and confident that the public will learn more about the candidates and the issues as a result.