While reporting on the coming out of "Star Trek" and "Heroes" star Zachary Quinto, ABC news anchor Dan Kloeffler, 35, opens up about his own sexuality on air.

Out to his family, friends and co-workers for years, he kept his personal life off the air until now.

At 3a.m. while filling in on ABC's World News Now, Kloeffler joked that he might bend his rule about not dating actors for Quinto. His co-anchor laughed nervously and moved on in the segment; however, in a blog post later, Kloeffler addressed the joke and talked about why he now feels it's important to be a role model.

"In fact, an old boyfriend -- now best friend -- has always given me a hard time about not doing so," Kloeffler wrote. "But for the same reason that Zach decided to come out, I too, no longer wanted to hide this part of my life.

"There have been too many tragic endings and too many cases of bullying because of intolerance," he continued. "As a kid I wanted someone to look up to, someone that could relate to the feelings I was having. Most of all, I wanted to know that it would get better."

Kloeffler added: "As a journalist, I don't want to be the story, but as a gay man I don't want to stand silent if I can offer some inspiration or encouragement to kids that might be struggling with who they are."

Quinto came out after a series of gay teen suicides, saying "it became clear to me in an instant that living a gay life without publicly acknowledging it -- is simply not enough to make any significant contribution to the immense work that lies ahead on the road to complete equality."

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