Steve Kornacki Came Out as Gay in 2011 with a Moving Essay - Read It Now

Everyone is falling in love with MSNBC political reporter Steve Kornacki thanks to his coverage of the presidential election and if you’re on Twitter, you’ve definitely been hearing about him this week!

The 41-year-old journalist has been in charge of the network’s magic wall since Tuesday and he has barely slept this week while crunching numbers and reporting them to the viewers.

People want to know more about Steve and a great place to start is the article he wrote for Salon back in 2011, in which he publicly came out as gay.

“I’ve read stories from people who say they always knew they were attracted to the same sex, or that they figured it out at a young age. I’m not one of them. I had practically no idea until one night in my sophomore year of high school,” Steve said while mentioning that he began to wonder why he didn’t find the cheerleaders hot like other guys.

“I just didn’t fit the stereotypes of gay men. I was an ESPN addict as far back as elementary school. I’d also had early crushes on girls. So my epiphany at that basketball game was as sudden as it was incompatible with my self-image. I fought it relentlessly,” he said.

Steve wrote about how he kept his sexuality a secret for years. He used online chat rooms as an outlet, never revealing his true identity to anyone he chatted with on there. He also wrote about the few guys he met up with after meeting on the chat rooms.

When he was 30, Steve met a guy online who was in a similar situation to him and they began a relationship that they kept secret. “I was straight during the day while spending my nights with [him],” Steve wrote.

Steve‘s boyfriend ended up coming out to his loved ones and patiently waited for Steve to do the same, but eventually suggested they take a break after Steve constantly pushed back from being part of his life.

“You may be wondering why I was so afraid. It’s 2011, after all, and I live in Manhattan, surrounded in social and professional settings by gay people. It’s not like I come from a morally judgmental family; I never feared my parents or other relatives turning their backs on me. But 17 years of fear and hang-ups can be hard for a person to shake,” he said.

Steve says he decided to come out to his friends, family, and co-workers after looking back at his relationship with that guy and realizing that he hated what he put him though.

“This isn’t the start of some brand-new life. I actually like a lot about the one I already have. But now the fear and paranoia are gone. And my life can finally make sense to the people who matter to me,” Steve wrote at the end of the article, which was published in November 2011.

You can read the full piece on Salon.com.