Russian TV anchor gets fired after coming out as gay on the air

A Russian TV personality came out on the air as a gay man and was fired within hours. According to Salon.com, however, 37-year-old Anton Krasovsky knew that his actions would have repercussions and was prepared for them.

During a broadcast, Krasovsky looked straight into the camera and declared, "I’m gay, and I’m just the same person as you, my dear audience, as President Putin, as Prime Minister Medvedev and the deputies of our Duma."

The TV network fired him via text message and has scrubbed the clip from its website and from YouTube. Krasovsky told the Independent that he knew there would be trouble, but that his conscience wouldn't allow him to keep silent.

“I have made a lot of money in television and I understood that I’d lose everything," he said in an interview. "But I also understood that I couldn’t do anything else. I didn’t do it so that I would get hundreds of likes on my Facebook page. I did it because I wanted them to hear it in the Kremlin. And they heard it, and were surprised.”

In an interview with CNN, he said, "somebody should do it. I decided it was time to be open, for me. That's it.”

Krasovsky said that he has been unemployed since he was fired from his job.

Watch video about this story, embedded below via YouTube: