Actor Matt Bomer confirms he is gay

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- Actor Matt Bomer, star of the U.S. television series "White Collar," confirmed during the weekend he is gay and has a longtime partner.

E! News said Bomer, 34, is raising three children with Hollywood publicist Simon Halls. The actor talked publicly about his personal life for the first time during the weekend's Desert AIDS Project's Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards in Palm Springs, Calif. He was at the event to be honored with the New Generation Arts & Activism Award for his work in the fight against AIDS.

"I'd really especially like to thank my beautiful family: Simon, Kit, Walker, Henry," E! News quoted Bomer as saying. "Thank you for teaching me what unconditional love is. You will always be my proudest accomplishment. God bless you."

Bomer is preparing to play a gay journalist in the big-screen adaptation of Larry Kramer's play "The Normal Heart," E! News said.

"My world has really been rocked by doing research for 'Normal Heart,' just in terms of the history of HIV and AIDS," he said. "And so I'm very proud to receive this award from an organization that is at the forefront of carrying the torch into a very, very bright future."