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Don Lemon talks race, childhood abuse, and coming out as gay

Don Lemon talks race, childhood abuse, and coming out as gay

In his first television interviews since coming out publicly on Sunday night, CNN anchor Don Lemon talks candidly about race, being abused as a child, and his sexuality.

“Today I chose to step out on faith and begin openly living my own truth,” Lemon said in a “coming out” statement released early this morning — which comes in advance of the June release of his memoir, “Transparent.”

Watch Lemon’s first interview here (after the 30-second ad, of course):

HLN’s Joy Behar spoke on Monday with Lemon about his decision to reveal he’s gay:

Lemon, 45, dedicated his upcoming book to the memory of Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi, who jumped to his death from a bridge after his dorm mates streamed an intimate encounter with another man over the Internet

“Tyler might still be with us today if more gay men and women had chosen to live proudly and openly,” Lemon said.

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