| Coming out ("Disclosure", "exit") is the process of the voluntary public announcement of one's (primarily homosexual or bisexual) sexual orientation or gender identity or a result of such a process. The term "Coming-out" is used predominantly for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals (Abbreviation LGBT), who ceased to conceal their unconventional sexual orientation or the non conformity of the psychic gender with the biological gender from the public. The term "Coming-out" is a direct adoption of the established English term coming out. (The short form of "coming out of the closet", "Coming out of lumber-room", by implication "Coming out of darkness, opening-up").
Outing:
The act of revealing a closeted person's orientation against his or her wishes is known as "Outing" them. Outing concludes in a public disclosure of personal information about the orientation or gender identity of a person against his wishes or consent, which may be found to be libel by a court of law. As a result of such acts, the change in the behavior of the public towards the unconventional orientation of a person is possible in a social and professional sphere. Such effects can be used to make the person compromised by damaging his personal or social reputation and also placing his professional competency under the scanner.
Some representatives of pop culture use coming-out or the image of the person with an unconventional sexual orientation for generating interest in the person, how.
Camouflaging heterosexuality:
Some people who identify themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexuals or transsexuals, or who otherwise might prefer same-gender sexual activities or relationships, have engaged in heterosexual activities or have had long-term heterosexual relationships, including marriage (For example, for a long time British pop singer Elton John did not reveal his real identity). Similar behavior is explained by the term "Camouflaging heterosexuality", under which the Russian doctor - sexologist Michael Beillkin interprets "The heterosexual activeness of homosexuals is motivated by the understandings of social prestige".
Such apparently camouflaging "heterosexual" behavior by people who would otherwise consider themselves gay or lesbian is practiced to create an illusion about their heterosexual orientation and for acceptance by heterosexual surroundings (society). According to the words of M. Beillkin, such cases are to be differentiated from behavior of open bisexuals in long-term heterosexual relationships:
"The bisexual behavior within the frames of camouflaging heterosexuality is to be differentiated from real bisexuality".
Others who are "in the closet" (hiding their sexual orientation) have no heterosexual contacts and simply want to protect themselves from discrimination or rejection by not revealing their sexual orientation or attractions. M. Beillkin states that it does not require special knowledge to understand the motivation behind such behavior. The discussion is about the involuntary submission of the homosexual to the social rules of the society, by no means encouraging sexual dissent.
National coming-out Day
According to the opinion of the American LGBT-organization the “Campaign for human rights”, is a consistent and organized way of realizing the coming-out concept in all society and is called “National Coming-out Day”. It is celebrated every year on the 11th of October. Initially, celebrating “coming-out day” was confined only to the USA but later on it spread across to other countries worldwide. According to organizers, it allows to reduce the possible negative consequences of coming-out both for the mentality of the relatives, accomplices and friends of the person and for the person himself.
The history of the American “National Coming-out Day” dates back to October 11, 1987 when 500 000 demonstrators took a procession to the Washington streets demanding equality of rights for gays and lesbians. The decision to celebrate “Coming-out Day” every year was taken in 1988 with the participation of Dr. Robert Eichberg and Jean O'Leary, American activists in the struggle for the rights of gays and lesbians, policies and a former nun. The founders have chalked out aims to familiarize the majority of the population with LGBT-society and its movement for equal rights.
The emblem of the American Coming-out Day was created by Keith Haring (1958—1990), who became popular as an American artist in the 1980s and worked on city street drawing, graffiti and pop-art genres. Unisex relationship themes were used in many of his creations.
Organizers of the campaign recommend the participants to wear certain signs or symbols on this day: the overturned pink triangle, the Greek letter “lambda” and also the 6-colour rainbow in the form of ornaments, flags or on clothes, so that by their example, they can graphically demonstrate the presence of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transsexuals in all layers of society, among all ages and ethnic groups.
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Today is the National Coming Out Day celebrated by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities and their supporters. The holiday was established in 1988 with a gay and lesbian parade in Washington DC, where some half a million people participated. Despite the name, this holiday is observed not just in the United States but also internationally.
