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 their gender identity.įramed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of the closet is experienced variously as a psychological process or journey decision-making or risk-taking a strategy or plan a mass or public event a speech act and a matter of personal identity a rite of passage liberation or emancipation from oppression an ordeal a means toward feeling gay pride instead of shame and social stigma or even a career-threatening act.
