Contrary to popular belief, we queers aren't attracted just to gym bods and pretty faces. We're looking for it all -- intelligence, charm, heart, style, talent, accessibility ... and that unexplainable sumthin' sumthin' called the "X-factor" that makes our hearts go thump.
From the worlds of entertainment, art, sports, business, politics and other realms we've plucked the very few people who fit these criteria, and we present them to you through our weekly series "The Full Package."
More magnetic than George Stephanopoulos. Better bred than Chris Cuomo. Nattier than Matt Lauer. Able to report as passionately from war-torn Rwanda and Katrina-ravaged New Orleans as effortlessly as he can chew the fat on comforting morning fluff like ABC's "Regis and Kelly" or command a crowd at the Times Square New Year's Eve bash. It's a bird! It's a plane! It's the youthful silver fox who translates into network gold! It's Anderson Cooper -- the intrepid, intelligent and unassumingly sexy CNN anchor we can't get enough of.
We gays have claimed him as our own (whether he really is "one of us" or not). But why do we love him so much? Is it that he's a scion of one of the wealthiest families in American history yet comes across with the sharp yet boyish everyman appeal of a Jimmy Stewart? Is it that -- in 007/Indiana Jones fashion -- he looks as good in muddy khakis out in the jungle as he does in a tailored Ralph Lauren suit and perfectly knotted tie at a celebrity function? Is it that, at such an uncertain and pivotal time, when we're confronted with the confusions of Barack, Bush, Iraq, Hillary, McCain, he's made American politics and global issues accessible to us in a way that's by turns easygoing and charmingly earnest, but always insightful? Is it that he's shown his vulnerability by being candid about the tragedies in his personal life, or that he gives us a glimpse of his cocky side when he riffs with Kelly Ripa about his Manhattan social life? Or do we just love him for his trim build, his angular cheekbones and his blue eyes, made even more striking by his full, handsome and prematurely white head of hair?
The answer is: We like him for all of the above.



