Search results
People also ask
When did the term “closet” come out?
What does coming out of the closet mean?
What does it mean to be in a closet?
When did gay people use the closet metaphor?
Oct 11, 2017 · It’s not clear exactly when the “closet” metaphor came to be associated with the phrase “coming out,” though it appears not to have been widely used before the 1960s. In fact, Chauncey’s...
- 1 min
It seems that "coming out of the closet" was born as a mixture of two metaphors: a debutante proudly stepping into the arms of a community and a shocking secret being kept in hiding.
Jan 8, 2015 · According to George Chauncey's comprehensive history of modern gay culture, Gay New York, the closet metaphor was not used by gay people until the 1960s. Before then, it doesn't appear anywhere...
- Arika Okrent
The phrase “come out of the closet” is a commonly used idiom in modern English, but its origins and historical context are often overlooked. This phrase refers to an individual revealing their true identity or beliefs after hiding them for some time.
Feb 16, 2016 · Beginning some time in the 1960s, the two idioms seem to have merged: “coming out”  was less about joining the gay society but revealing a secret to the straight society and the closet referred to the perception of shame the person who “comes out” must have felt prior to opening the closet door.
Oct 7, 2021 · For three decades, every October 11, the LGBTQ community and its allies have celebrated National Coming Out Day — a positive celebration of queerness that encourages folks to share their truth with the world and take a stand against homophobia.
Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity.