It’s National Coming Out Day
October 11 is National Coming Out Day. It’s celebrated each year by the LGBTQ+ community and its allies to increase awareness, pride, and create an atmosphere of support and inclusion for anyone “coming out of the closet.”
If you have questions, Today provides an explainer. Here’s what you need to know:
What is the purpose of National Coming Out Day?
“Coming out of the closet” is the metaphor long-used by the LGBTQ+ community to mean revealing one’s identity. National Coming Out Day (NCOD) encourages LGBTQ+ people to share their authentic selves with others – and to encourage and support others in doing the same.
The holiday’s goal is to increase awareness and visibility, showing that members of the LGBTQ+ community are everywhere.
Despite legal and cultural gains in the United States, there has been recent backlash and discrimination directed toward the community, with hundreds of anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced this year in Florida, Tennessee, Texas and other states.
“Today we are facing the same challenges that made coming out and visibility imperative: hateful and dehumanizing legislation, court rulings that jeopardize our freedoms and embolden bigots who threaten our safety,” says Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida. She noted that this year’s observation is a particular “call to resistance” against those “manufacturing fear and stoking violence” against the LGBTQ+ community.
How and when did National Coming Out Day start?
The holiday was founded on October 11, 1988 by LGBTQ+ activists Robert Eichberg and Jean O’Lear. The date honors the first anniversary of the 1987 March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, a foundational event in LGBTQ+ history.
The founders believed homophobia flourishes in silence, and people are less likely to hold on to hateful or discriminatory views when they realize they affect someone they know and love.
Eichberg, who died at age 50 of complications due to AIDS, was quoted in his his New York Times obituary: “Most people think they don’t know anyone gay or lesbian, and in fact, everybody does. It is imperative that we come out and let people know who we are and disabuse them of their fears and stereotypes.”
How does an LGBTQ person come out?
The coming out process differs from person to person. A number of organizations offer resources:
The Human Rights Campaign, a national LGBTQ+ advocacy group, offers a useful Coming Out section on its website.
The Trevor Project, a national non-profit organization that supports young LGBTQ+ people, provides a Coming Out Handbook.
How to celebrate?
While some choose to attend NCOD events, members of the LGBTQ+ community can celebrate “by simply living authentically and by encouraging others to do the same.” Allies can take the opportunity to visibly express their love and support for the LGBTQ people in their lives.
Read the full article here.
Vivinetto, Gina. “What is National Coming Out Day? Here’s how it started, what its goal is, and how to celebrate. TODAY.com, 10 Oct 2023, https://www.today.com/news/what-is-national-coming-out-day-rcna119721.
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