Chely Wright Reacts to Frank Ocean and Anderson Cooper Coming Out

In 2010, Chely Wright became the first mainstream country artist to reveal that she is a lesbian. Last year, the songstress celebrated another milestone by marrying LGBT activist and author Lauren Blitzer. Having faced the ups and downs of the public's reaction to her sexual orientation, the singer now keeps an eye on other celebrities who make the decision to "come out" to their fans, so that she can offer support.

Yesterday (July 4), Frank Ocean from the rap group Odd Future wrote on his Tumblr that his first love was man. "I can't think of a better way for Frank to celebrate Independence Day," Chely tells TMZ. "It's [spectacular]."

Earlier this week, CNN host Anderson Cooper shared in an open letter to the Daily Beast that he is gay. "I think it's perfect the way he did it," Chely said on "CBS This Morning" Tuesday (July 3). "It was perfectly Anderson."

Cooper's admission was prompted when his friend and writer Andrew Sullivan asked for his opinion on an Entertainment Weekly article about gay celebrities coming out. The news anchor responded in an email, which said, "The fact is, I'm gay, always have been," and he gave Sullivan permission to post it.

"He gave a genuine response," says Chely. "I don't think in any way it was a cowardly move, a sneaky, get-it-under-the-radar-on-a-holiday-weekend. It was just a real genuine, human response to a question asked, and I'm certainly -- I can't say what Anderson Cooper thinks, but I would imagine that at some point recently, he probably said to himself, 'Why am I not out? Why haven't I not done this? OK, I'll just do it.'"

However, in recent months, the "Single White Female" singer has been very vocal about how coming out has hurt her career. She told TMZ that since her announcement, her album sales have fallen to a third of what they had been, and that certain venues won't book a show with her in fear of boycotts.

Although, she has found several victories in her decision to come out, including one this past May, when she called for a high-profile country singer to support "equality for all." Last month, Carrie Underwood voiced her support for gay marriage during an interview with UK newspaper The Independent.

"I called for a big star in country music to come forward and not just say, 'I love my gay fans,' but advocate for us on a deeper level," Chely recalls on "CBS This Morning." "And Carrie Underwood, a few days after I was on this show -- not saying I had anything to do with it -- but she stepped forward and said, 'I believe LGBT people deserve every freedom, every right, they should be able to get married.' And that's big. We are making progress."

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