Closet

[[File:Liberace.jpg|thumb|right|165px|{{wpl|Liberace||,}} who was hidden in plain view for his entire adult life]]
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Being "'''in the closet'''" is an idiom for concealing one's sexuality (most usually a [[LGBT|LGBTQ]] orientation) due to an embodiment of social and cultural pressure of sexual norms.

When a closeted person chooses to be open about their sexuality, this is known as "coming out of the closet" or simply "coming out". Sometimes a closeted [[homosexual]] is "outed" involuntarily by other people. Outing people against their wishes is generally frowned upon, though not by [[tabloid]] journalists and editors. Involuntary outing has also been done by activists, such as {{wpl|Harvey Milk}} did to {{wpl|Oliver Sipple||,}} with a variety of motives, including creating celebrities and heroes for the gay community, or confronting perceived [[hypocrisy]].{{efn|Sipple, a US Marine Corps veteran, foiled the attempted assassination of President [[Gerald Ford]] by one of [[Charles Manson]]'s acolytes. He was locally active in San Francisco gay institutions but kept these secret from his family. In outing him, Milk said that "it's too good an opportunity. For once we can show that gays do heroic things, not just all that caca about molesting children and hanging out in bathrooms." The revelation led to tensions with his family and may have contributed to his early death.<ref>See Randy Shilts, (1982). ''The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk'', St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-52330-0 p. 122.</ref>}}

The concept of being "in the closet" or "coming out" has also expanded to areas unrelated to sexuality, such as [[religious]] or [[political]] affiliation.

==Closet sexuality==
Since the majority of human societies have been largely [[heteronormative]] and [[homophobic]], many thousands of LGBT people have lived in the closet (to a greater or lesser extent) throughout history.{{cn}} Gay or lesbian subcultures have existed clandestinely in many societies, but widespread disapproval or persecution has made it difficult to openly identify as homosexual. The [[LGBT rights]] movement has worked to change this through increasing tolerance and acceptance, though coming out still remains a difficult struggle for many people.

Some policies and working practices, most notably the [[US]] military's now-defunct "[[don't ask, don't tell]]" policy, have effectively mandated gay people staying in the closet. "Don't ask, don't tell" was introduced as an awkward compromise between LGBT rights and [[traditional values|traditionalist]] (i.e. homophobic) attitudes towards military service, but made it obligatory for serving homosexuals to [[lie]] about their personal lives, since coming out would result in a discharge.<ref>https://www.britannica.com/event/Dont-Ask-Dont-Tell</ref>

==In other contexts==
By analogy, the phrases "closet" and "coming out" are often used in other contexts where a person feels that there is some aspect of their life or identity that they cannot be open about, or where being open may involve a certain amount of confrontation or drama, such as being an [[atheist]] within an overtly religious community, family, or society.

==See also==
* [[Human Rights Campaign]] - organizes a national coming out day

==Notes==
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==References==
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[[Category:Completely heterosexual| ]]
[[Category:Discrimination]]
[[Category:LGBT]]
[[Category:Neologisms]]

Categories: Completely heterosexual, Discrimination, LGBT, Neologisms