Outing is the act of disclosing anLGBTQ person'ssexual orientation orgender identity without their consent. It is often done for malicious reasons, either to instrumentalizehomophobia,biphobia, and/ortransphobia in order to discredit someone, or to combat homophobia,heterosexism, and/orcissexism by revealing that a prominent or respected individual is homosexual and/or transgender. Historical examples of outing include theKrupp affair, theEulenburg affair, theRöhm scandal,George Michael's April 1998 arrest,Ricky Martin's 2000 interview withBarbara Walters, and theLarry Craig scandal.
Generally, outing someone in a personal context is thought to be unethical and tends to be frowned upon. When it comes to public figures, the ethics of outing are highly contested as it can often have a negative effect on the target's personal life or career. Some LGBTQ activists argue that gay individuals who oppose LGBTQ rights do not enjoy aright to privacy because of their perceived hypocrisy. In an attempt to pre-empt being outed, an LGBTQ public figure may decide tocome out publicly first, although controlling the conditions under which one's LGBTQ identity is revealed is only one of the numerous motives for coming out.
It is hard to pinpoint the first use of outing in the modern sense. In a 1982 issue ofHarper's,Taylor Branch predicted that "outage" would become a political tactic in which thecloseted would find themselves trapped in a crossfire. The article "Forcing Gays Out of the Closet" byWilliam A. Henry III inTime (January 29, 1990) introduced the term "outing" to the general public.[1]
TheEulenburg affair of 1907–1909 was the first public outing scandal of the twentieth century.Left-wing journalists opposed toKaiser Wilhelm II's policies outed a number of prominent members of his cabinet and inner circle — and by implication the Kaiser — beginning withMaximilian Harden's indictment of the aristocratic diplomatPrince Eulenburg. Harden's accusations incited other journalists to follow suit, includingAdolf Brand, founder ofDer Eigene.[citation needed] Many activists of thefirst homosexual movement denounced outing as "the way over corpses".[2][3] In 1928,Kurt Hiller argued that it would be permissible to out a member of a cabinet preparing an anti-homosexual law, arguing: "Our solidarity with the homosexuals of all classes and political viewpoints extends very far; but it does not include traitors to their own cause."[4]
Left-wing journalists outedAdolf Hitler's closest allyErnst Röhm in 1931 and 1932. In response, Brand wrote, "when someone — as teacher, priest, representative, or statesman — would like to set in the most damaging way the intimate love contacts of others under degrading control — in that moment his own love-life also ceases to be a private matter and forfeits every claim to remain protected hence-forward from public scrutiny and suspicious oversight."[5] Left-wing journalistKurt Tucholsky disagreed, writing inDie Weltbühne, "We fight the scandalous§175, everywhere we can, therefore we must not join the choir of those among us who want to banish a man from society because he is homosexual."[6][7]
In the 1950s during theLavender Scare,tabloid publications likeConfidential emerged, specializing in the revelation of scandalous information about entertainment and political celebrities. Among the political figures targeted by the magazine were former Under Secretary of StateSumner Welles[8] andArthur H. Vandenberg Jr., who had briefly served as President Eisenhower'sAppointments Secretary.[9]
Outing may be found to belibel by a court of law. For example, quite paradoxically, in 1957, American pianistLiberace successfully sued theDaily Mirror for merely insinuating that he was gay.[10][11] The newspaper responded that columnistWilliam Connor's words (written under his byline 'Cassandra') did not imply that Liberace was gay. Their defence contended that there was no libel as no accusation had been made, rather than arguing that the accusation was true.[12] Following Liberace's death from an AIDS-related illness in 1987, the paper asked for the award to be refunded.[13] In a 2011 interview, actress and close friendBetty White stated that Liberace was gay, and that she often served as abeard to counter rumors of the musician's homosexuality.[14]
I outedRosie andEllen, and it's hard to evenimagine now that they ever were in the closet. You have to educate the new people and say, 'Guess what, they were in the closet at one point.' It's hard to believe that Rosie was doing this delicate dance on her talk show where she was the 'Queen of Nice' and the single mother who had a crush onTom Cruise and I was pointing out the absurdity of it.
— Michael Musto, one of the original journalists outing celebrities.[15]
After theStonewall riots of 1969,gay-liberationists came out in the 1970s, crying out: "Out of the closets, Into the streets!"[16]
Oliver Sipple, who helped save the life of United States President Gerald Ford during anassassination attempt, was outed by gay activists, most prominentlyHarvey Milk. The negative impact the outing had on Sipple's life later provoked opposition.[17][18]
Some politicalconservatives opposed to increased public acceptance of homosexuality engaged in outing in this period as well, with the goal of embarrassing or discrediting their ideological foes. Conservative commentatorDinesh D'Souza, for example, published the letters of gay fellow students atDartmouth College in the campus newspaper he edited (The Dartmouth Review) in 1981; a few years later, succeedingReview editorLaura Ingraham had a meeting of a campus gay organization secretly tape-recorded, then published a transcript along with attendees' names as part of an editorial denouncing the group as "cheerleaders for latent campus sodomites."[19]
In the 1980s, theAIDS pandemic led to the outing of several major entertainers, includingRock Hudson.
One of the first outings by an activist in the United States occurred in February 1989.Michael Petrelis, along with a few others, alleged thatMark Hatfield, aRepublicanSenator fromOregon, was gay.[20] They did this because he supported homophobic legislation such as theHelms Amendment.[21] At a fundraiser in a small town outside ofPortland, the group stood up and outed him in front of the crowd. Petrelis later tried to make news by standing on theU.S. Capitol steps and reading the names of "twelve men and women in politics and music who ... are secretly gay." Though the press showed up, no major news organization published the story.[22] Potential libel suits deterred publishers.
Michelangelo Signorile, an editor ofOutWeek, outed the recently deceasedMalcolm Forbes in March 1990.[23] His column "Gossip Watch" became a hot spot for outing the rich and famous. Both praised and lambasted for his behavior, he garnered responses to his actions as wide-ranging as "one of the greater contemporary gay heroes," to "revolting, infantile, cheap name-calling."[24]
Other people who have been outed includeFannie Flagg,Pete Williams,Chaz Bono,Richard Chamberlain, andSherman Hemsley.[25]
In 2004,gay rights activistMichael Rogers outedEdward Schrock, a RepublicanCongressman fromVirginia. Rogers posted a story on his website alleging that Schrock used an interactivephone sex service to meet other men for sex. Schrock did not deny this, and announced on August 30, 2004, that he would not seek re-election.[26] Rogers said that he outed Schrock to punish him for his hypocrisy in voting for theMarriage Protection Act and signing on as a co-sponsor of theFederal Marriage Amendment.
New Jersey GovernorJim McGreevey announced that he was a "gay American" in August 2004. McGreevey had become aware that he was about to be named in asexual harassment suit byGolan Cipel, his former security advisor, with whom it was alleged McGreevey had a sexual relationship. McGreevey resigned, but unlike Schrock, McGreevey decided not to step out of public life.John McCain's Presidential Campaign removed images of Alabama Attorney GeneralTroy King from its website after he was outed in 2008.[27]
Some activists argue that outing is appropriate and legitimate in some cases — for example, if the individual is actively working againstLGBTQ rights.[28] United States CongressmanBarney Frank argued during the 2006Mark Foley scandal, "I think there's a right to privacy. But the right to privacy should not be a right tohypocrisy. And people who want to demonize other people shouldn't then be able to go home and close the door and do it themselves."[29]
In 2009,Kirby Dick's documentaryOutrage argued that several American political figures have led closeted gay lives while supporting and endorsing legislation that is harmful to thegay community.[30][31][32][33][34] The film was based on the work of Michael Rogers and BlogActive.com. The film focused particular attention onIdahoSenatorLarry Craig, an outspoken opponent ofgay rights who in 2007 pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct for soliciting sex from an undercover police officer in a public bathroom.[31]Outrage featured interviews with several people who claim thatGovernor of FloridaCharlie Crist has led a private gay life while publicly opposinggay marriage andgay adoption.[35][36]
Other politicians discussed in the film include formerVirginiaRepresentativeEd Schrock,CaliforniaRepresentativeDavid Dreier, formerNew York CitymayorEd Koch, and formerLouisianaRepresentativeJim McCrery.[31][32][33][35][36][37]
The film argues that themass media is reluctant to discuss issues involving gay politicians despite the many comparable news stories about heterosexual politicians and scandals.Outrage describes this behavior as a form of institutionalized homophobia that has resulted in a tacit policy of self-censorship when reporting on these issues.[38][39]
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Gabriel Rotello, once editor ofOutWeek, explained outing as "equalizing", stating: "what we have called 'outing' is a primarily journalistic movement to treat homosexuality as equal to heterosexuality in the media".[40]
Signorile described OutWeek's aim as an awareness raiser of the presence of gay people and political issues. The goal would be that beinggay andlesbian is not "so utterly grotesque that it should never be discussed." (Signorile, p. 78) Signorile posits that outing is not the airing of private details.[41]
Richard Mohr noted, "Some people have compared outing toMcCarthyism..such outing feeds gays to the wolves, who thereby are made stronger....But the sort of outing I have advocated does not invoke, mobilize, or ritualistically confirm anti-gay values; rather it cuts against them." Thus Mohr argues that outing is "both permissible and an expected consequence of livingmorally."[42]
In the context ofAli Fazeli Monfared's murder, Tara Far, a human rights investigator inIran andKuwait, has described outing as "dangerous" within societies where the LGBTQ community is not protected by law, or families that do not accept the individual. Shadi Amin described the military exemption card as a danger to Monfared in her petition to the Iranian government to remove the sexuality information.[43]
There is no widely agreed definition of"fair outing". Warren Johansson and William Percy describe least four intermediate positions have been described to justify outing:[44]
- Only the dead;
- Hypocrites only, and only when they actively oppose gay rights and interests;
- Outing passive accomplices who help run homophobic institutions;
- Prominent individuals whose outing would shatterstereotypes and compel the public to reconsider its attitude on homosexuality.
Assessing to which degree the outer goes allows insight into the goal striven towards. Most outers target those who support decisions and further policy, bothreligious andsecular, which discriminate against gay people while they themselves live aclandestine gay existence. A "truism to people active in the gay movement [is] that the greatest impediments to homosexuals' progress often [are] not heterosexuals, but closeted homosexuals," saidSan Francisco journalistRandy Shilts.[45]
British activistPeter Tatchell says "The lesbian and gay community has a right to defend itself against public figures who abuse their power and influence to support policies which inflict suffering on homosexuals." In 1994 Tatchell's activist groupOutRage! alleged that fourteen bishops of theChurch of England were homosexual or bisexual and named them, accusing them of hypocrisy for upholding the Church's policy of regarding homosexual acts assinful while not observing this prohibition in their personal lives."Outing isqueer self-defence," Tatchell said in a 1995 speech to theLesbian and Gay Christian Movement conference. "Lesbians and gay men have a right, and a duty, to expose hypocrites and homophobes. By not outing gay Bishops who support policies which harm homosexuals, we would be protecting those Bishops and thereby allowing them to continue to inflict suffering on members of our community. Collusion with hypocrisy and homophobia is not ethically defensible for Christians, or for anyone else."[46]
InBelarus, forced outing has been used as a tool ofpolitical repression, especially following the2020–2021 Belarusian protests. Individuals detained for their alleged political activity have been coerced into participating in so-called "forced confession videos", where they are made to disclose personal details under duress, including theirsexual orientation.
In some instances,gay men were forced not only to out themselves on camera but also to reveal the names of their partners.[47] These videos were disseminated through pro-governmentTelegram channels and, later, on state television. The outing was frequently combined with other forms ofhumiliation, including forced disclosures of psychiatric diagnoses, labeling individuals with opposition symbols like thewhite-red-white flag, and emphasizing stigmatized characteristics such as mental health status,body type, or social status.[48]
Such actions have been condemned by human rights organizations as violations ofprivacy,human dignity, and international norms prohibitinginhuman or degrading treatment.[49]
Signorile argues that the outing of journalistPete Williams "and its aftermath did indeed make a big dent in the military's policy against gays. The publicity generated put the policy on the front burner in 1992, thrusting the issue into the presidential campaign," with every Democratic candidate and independent Ross Perot publicly promising to end the ban.[50]
Themilitary forces of the world have differing approaches to the enlistment ofhomosexual andbisexual individuals. Some have open policies, others prohibit, and some are ambiguous. The armed forces of most developed countries have now removed policies excludingnon-heterosexual individuals (with strict policies onsexual harassment).
Nations that permit gay people to serve openly in the military include 3 of the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council (United States, United Kingdom and France), theRepublic of China (Taiwan),Australia,Israel,Argentina, and allNATO members exceptTurkey.[51]
In the United Kingdom the Ministry of Defence policy since the year 2000 is to allowgay men, lesbians andtransgender personnel to serve openly, and discrimination on a sexual orientation basis is forbidden.[52] It is also forbidden for someone to pressure LGBTQ people tocome out.
In the United States lesbian, gay, and bisexual people are allowed to serve openly in theUnited States military. As of 2021, transgender individuals are allowed to serve openly, and to transition during their service.[53] The Trump administration however has taken steps to exclude trans people from the military in 2025. Those attempts are currently being litigated in US courts.[54]Military policy and legislation had previously entirely prohibited gay individuals from serving, and subsequently from serving openly, but these prohibitions were ended in September 2011 after the United States Congress voted to repeal the policy. The first time homosexuals were differentiated from non-homosexuals in the military literature was in revised army mobilization regulations in 1942. Additional policy revisions in 1944 and 1947 further codified the ban. Throughout the next few decades, homosexuals were routinely discharged, regardless of whether they had engaged in sexual conduct while serving. In response to thegay rights movements of the 1970s and 1980s, the Department of Defense issued a 1982 policy (DOD Directive 1332.14) stating that homosexuality was clearly incompatible with military service. Controversy over this policy created political pressure to amend the policy, withsocially liberal efforts seeking a repeal of the ban andsocially conservative groups wishing to reinforce it by statute.
Outing can be damaging or life-threatening to those with unsupportive families.[55][56] In response to a North Carolina bill that could out children to parents under the school system, various mental health experts warned of the potential damage, which could be life-threatening.[57]
After several Moroccans were outed from using gay dating apps, theHuman Rights Watch requested that the Moroccan government do more to protect their LGBTQ community, as many of them were facing abuse and discrimination.[58]
Outing is dangerous in various Islamic countries where the LGBTQ community faces discrimination or death from outings, resulting in many LGBTQ refugees to Western countries.[59][60]
Roger Rosenblatt argued in his January 1993New York Times Magazine essay "Who Killed Privacy?" that, "The practice of 'outing' homosexuals implies contradictorily that homosexuals have a right to private choice but not to private lives."[41] In March 2002, singerWill Young revealed he was gay, pre-empting a tabloid newspaper (reportedlyNews of the World) that was preparing to out him.[61]
Christine Jorgensen,Beth Elliott,Renée Richards,Sandy Stone,Billy Tipton,Alan L. Hart,April Ashley,Caroline Cossey ("Tula"),Jahna Steele, were outed as transsexuals by European or American media or, in the case of Billy Tipton, by hiscoroner. In many cases, being outed had an adverse effect on their personal lives and their careers.
In some cases well-known celebrities have been outed astransgender orintersex when no proof to substantiate the claims was presented, e.g.,Jamie Lee Curtis.[62]
The highly popular Liberace, who died in 1987 at the age of 67 of AIDS-related causes, publicly denied being gay or bisexual.
They all say that this deadly, winking, sniggering, snuggling, chromium-plated, scent-impregnated, luminous, quivering, giggling, fruit-flavoured, mincing, ice-covered heap of mother love has had the biggest reception and impact on London since Charlie Chaplin arrived at the same station, Waterloo, on September 12, 1921.[dead link]
