1988: National Coming Out Day
Coming out has been a mainstay of queer politics since the birth of the modern Gay Liberation movement at Stonewall.
In 1978, legendary activist Harvey Milk called for people to come out to demonstrate to supporters of anti-queer ordinances that it was their own brothers, sisters, sons and daughters that would be affected.
In 1980, the UK’s Campaign for Homosexual Equality made a similar call in its report Attacks on Gay People:
To get rid of anti-gay stereotypes, along with residual guilt about being gay, many more people must come out – become more openly gay.
Such was the perceived value of coming out that, on 11th October 1988, the world witnessed the fist ever Coming Out Day. Founded by psychologist Robert Eichberg and activist Jean O’Leary, one of its functions is to reassure those who are considering coming out that they are not alone.
But the timing of its launch – the first anniversary of the Second March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights – also underscored the political dimension to coming out. Coming Out Day was one of the initiatives that grew from the energy generated by the March. Organisers felt that our communities had too often reacted defensively and there was a need for a more proactive approach. In the words of the present organisers, National Coming Out Day is “a reminder that one of our most basic tools is the power of coming out.”
But, thirty-one years down the track, there are some who question whether Coming Out Day is still relevant. For example, in a 2017 Washington Post article, It’s time to end National Coming Out Day, Matthew Birkhold argues that it has become counter-productive:
Continuing to use the rhetoric of “coming out” reinforces a view that heterosexuality is the norm. “Coming out” implicitly announces — to LGBTQ individuals, allies and enemies — that gay people are aberrant. Our homosexuality is so different that we must proclaim it; heterosexuality, however, is normal and expected.
It has to be said that Birkhold’s opinion seems to be in the minority at present and, given Donald Trump’s presidential incumbency, this doesn’t seem to be the right time to take our eyes off the ball. Indeed, in this 50th anniversary year for Stonewall, there are some who are arguing that we need to get back to the militancy of earlier years not abandon it.
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