LGBT Coming Out of the Closet News and Information

Updated/Revised Date: 19th Sep 2022
Author: Sexual Diversity | Contact: SexualDiversity.org
Additional References: LGBTQ+ Coming Out Publications

Synopsis: Informative articles and information to the public and LGBTQ+ people regarding the challenges of coming out to peers and family.

Definition

Coming Out

Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Coming out of the closet is the source of other gay slang expressions related to voluntary disclosure or lack thereof. LGBT people who have already revealed or no longer conceal their sexual orientation or gender identity are out of the closet, i.e., openly LGBT. Oppositely, LGBT people who have yet to come out or have opted not to do so are labeled as closeted or being in the closet. The outing is the deliberate or accidental disclosure of an LGBT person's sexual orientation or gender identity by someone else without their consent. By extension, outing oneself is self-disclosure. Glass closet means the open secret of when public figures' being LGBT is considered a widely accepted fact even though they have not officially come out.

"It is the power of the closet to shape the core of an individual's life that has made homosexuality a significant personal, social, and political drama in twentieth-century America" - Author Steven Seidman.

Main Section

Every coming out story is the person trying to come to terms with who they are and their sexual orientation. Several models have been created to describe coming out as a gay and lesbian identity development process, e.g., Dank, 1971; Cass, 1984; Coleman, 1989; Troiden, 1989. Of these models, the most widely accepted is the Cass identity model established by Vivienne Cass. This model outlines six discrete stages transited by individuals who successfully come out:

• Identity confusion
• Identity comparison
• Identity tolerance
• Identity acceptance
• Identity pride
• Identity synthesis

However, not every LGBT person follows such a model. For example, some LGBT youth become aware of and accept their same-sex desires or gender identity at puberty in a way similar to which heterosexual teens become aware of their sexuality, i.e., free of any notion of difference, stigma, or shame in terms of the gender of the people to whom they are attracted. Regardless of whether LGBT youth develop their identity based on a model, the typical age at which youth in the United States come out has been dropping. High school students and even middle school students are coming out.

For lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) people, coming out is a process of understanding, accepting, and valuing one's sexual orientation/identity. Coming out includes both exploring one's identity and sharing that identity with others.

Recognizing your own sexual identity and working toward self-acceptance are the first steps in coming out. First, concerning sexual identity, it helps to think of a sexual orientation continuum that ranges from exclusive same-sex attraction to exclusive opposite-sex attraction. Exploring your sexual identity may include determining where you presently fit along that continuum. LGBT people tend to share a feeling of relief that coming out can provide. However, the act of coming out differs for transgender, transsexual, and intersex people in some fundamental ways:

• By coming out, trans and intersex people disclose their gender identity and, if applicable, their decision to transition to the gender role with which they more closely identify. However, in many cases, coming out for intersex people does not involve gender identity. For trans people, the transition is to the gender opposite their biological sex, and for intersex people, to the fact that they were born intersex.
• Coming out is a pre-requisite to transitioning, particularly if the transition later includes undergoing sex-reassignment surgery.
• For some trans people who pass and are mistaken for being cisgender, coming out occults important parts of their full sense of identity or their complete gender history.
• Backlashes or other negative reactions to a trans person's coming out are caused by transphobia and sexism, with additional homophobia and heterosexism in some cases.
• When trans or intersex people come out, it impacts how they label their sexual orientation and interact with communities to which they feel they belong. In the case of intersex, the label other communities attach to them.
• Conversely, coming out can be viewed as inauthentic or a self-betrayal for some trans and intersex people who have chosen to live in stealth because the disclosure is at odds with their true gender or, in the case of being intersex, the fact they were born intersex.
• Backlashes or other negative reactions to an intersex person's coming out are caused by internalized hatreds that threaten people's sense of self, identity, and worldview. Denial that some people were born with a mix of female and male anatomy and/or chromosomes is also a factor.

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Latest LGBTQ+ Coming Out Publications
The above information is from our reference library of material relating to LGBTQ+ Coming Out that includes:
	Do Say Gay: Inclusive Sexuality Discussions Between Parent and Son Significance LGBTQ youth perspectives on how or if parent-child discussions at home about health and sexuality sufficiently meet their sexual education needs. Publish Date: 7th Sep 2022
	Why LGBTQ Adults Maintain Ties with Rejecting Parents When parents have rejected them why do many LGBTQ adults struggle to keep relationships with their families despite conflict and heartbreak. Publish Date: 8th Jul 2022 - Updated: 16th Jul 2022
	Sexuality is Often Fluid If your child tells you they're gay don't presume they are jumping on a trend. Publish Date: 17th Jun 2021 - Updated: 6th Sep 2022
	When My Son Told Me He Was Gay Tsara Shelton, author of Spinning in Circles and Learning From Myself, writes regarding her reaction when her son comes out as being gay. Publish Date: 16th May 2020 - Updated: 21st Sep 2022
	Go Back in the Closet - Rand Paul Solution to LGBT Discrimination HRC responds to offensive comments by Sen. Rand Paul saying that LGBT people should go back in the closet if they fear discrimination. Publish Date: 18th Oct 2015