Coming out was not originally about LGBT people at all, but about girls from high society. What is the meaning of "coming out of the closet" today and why?
Historic "coming out"
Whether today or in the past, coming out has naturally been associated with LGBT people. In fact, it refers to a certain "life stage" when LGBT people outwardly come out about who they are/feel they are. The phrase itself is part of a longer phrase, "coming out of the closet", which has its roots in the history of persecution and marginalisation of people whose orientation/identity did not match the majority expectations and so often had to hide from mistreatment.
The coming-out practice as we understand it today originated primarily in the African-American LGBT community, but was adopted from a former aristocratic tradition, the debutante balls, where young noble girls first entered high society. It is no coincidence, then, that the first coming out events (during the 1930s) took place at drag balls (i.e. costume balls) in New York, Chicago and Baltimore - though this trend was subsequently dampened by the growing backlash against LGBT visibility. In any case, drag balls as sites of public coming out are still a far cry from the way coming out - that is, a more intimate self-awareness resulting in sharing one's identity, usually first with those closest to one's self - is perceived today. So how did coming out become coming out in the first place?
Coming out as a political issue
According to sociology professor Abigail Saguy, who also wrote a scholarly book on coming out, the term did not take on its current meaning until half a century after LGBT people presented at drag balls. Coming out as a public declaration of belonging to an overlooked group was first discussed in the context of the Stonewall riots. Then in 1970, at the first Gay Liberation March in New York City, among other things , the organizers stated that "LGBT people will never have the freedom and civil rights they deserve, like all other human beings, unless they stop 'hiding in closets' and in the shelter of anonymity."
Zdroj: Giphy
However, the one who brought the topic of coming out into the public sphere as a de facto political issue was California politician and activist Harvey Milk. Speaking against a proposed ban on gays in local schools in 1978, he called on all gay people to come out with who they are. This was an effort to encourage others to come out about their sexual orientation to others, family, friends, colleagues. "It was a way to create more solidarity and support for the community," Saguy also summarized.
And why did Milk seek something like this? In the 1970s, it was still not common to be gay/lesbian. Most didn't claim their orientation as such - many, in fact, were living a double life. It was quite common for lesbians to enter into traditional marriages because, despite their orientation, they naturally wanted a family and the economic stability that marriage offered. But gay marriages to heterosexual women were not uncommon either.
The myriad meanings of coming out
However, while it might seem that coming out is simply about revealing one's sexual orientation to loved ones, many experts point out that it has many more levels and nuances. After all, being gay/lesbian/trans or queer is not the only defining component of one's identity. Indeed, a host of other factors come into play, from religion to cultural traditions to race. All of these interact with orientation in different ways and make coming out both influential and complicated. For example, the coming out of a young white man in the Czech Republic and an African-American from a religious community on the other side of the world are completely different (and it must be said that coming out in the case of trans people is a completely separate chapter). This is also why one can see the idea of coming out being rejected on the grounds that it neglects or ignores all other aspects of identity - apart from that of orientation.
Does this still make sense?
Coming out is a process that is accompanied by a range of questions and personal challenges, but also risks and important decisions. And in each individual case it depends on other facts and context. Whether the decision to approach coming out on a purely individual level still makes sense today (even taking into account that one, albeit still dominant, "norm" may no longer be a universal dogma) is ultimately for each individual to assess. On the other hand, coming out still makes political sense. Coming out loudly and visibly, especially in the case of those who are "in the public eye", contributes even today to the visibility of LGBT people and their gradual acceptance. And it also inspires and helps those who are still struggling with their own identity.
