Chely Wright: Anderson Cooper's coming out "perfect"

(CBS News) Country music artist Chely Wright, who revealed two years ago that she's gay, thinks the way CNN host and "60 Minutes" contributing correspondent Anderson Cooper came out was "perfect."

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Cooper made the declaration in a e-mail to The Daily Beast.

"I think it's perfect the way he did it," Wright said Tuesday on "CBS This Morning." "I think...it was perfectly Anderson," Wright said.

"I think he gave a genuine response," she said.  "Andrew Sullivan reached out to him, said 'do you have comments on this article?' And he gave a genuine response and said, 'And by the way, share this with your readers.' I don't think in any way it was a cowardly move, a sneaky, get-it-under-the-radar-on-a-holiday-weekend. I thought it was just a real genuine, human response to a question asked, and I think, you know, 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.'"

Looking at some of the stars featured in the recent cover story of Entertainment Weekly called "The New Art of Coming Out," Wright remarked that Zachary Quinto's coming out was particularly profound and emotional.

"He said, I've done an 'It Gets Better' video, and he said 'I was telling young people, 'I'm for you,'' but there's a difference in saying 'I'm for you and I am you,'" Wright said. "And that's what Anderson just did. Because we know there's not been a more fierce advocate for anti-bullying measures and efforts than Anderson Cooper. No one doubted that he was for us. Now everyone knows that he is us."

Wright said the LGBT community is continuing to make progress. "What has changed is, I'm here. I'm talking about LGBT issues and equality on a daily basis," Wright said. "And we've recently, after I was on your show last time a few weeks ago, 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. 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."

For more with Chely Wright and Jess Cagle, managing editor of Entertainment Weekly, who discussed coming out in the public eye, and particularly the ramifications for a journalist versus an entertainer, watch the video in the player above.