Coming out

"Coming out of the closet" (very often shortened to "coming out" in winking reference to the public introduction of debutantes) describes the voluntary public announcement of one's sexual orientation, sexual attractions, gender identity, or (less commonly) paraphilia.

Transgender and transsexual usage

Whilst most people try to live according to the gender to which they are assigned at birth (or, in many cases of intersexuality, later), many transgender or transsexual people eventually decide to live according to the gender role with which they more closely identify, and therefore choose to annouce their gender identity and their intention of changing their gender role if they wish to transition. Unlike with sexual orientation, coming out as (for example) female-identified rather than male-identified is not optional if one wishes to transition from one gender to another. However, many transgender and especially transsexual people wish to hide their past gender role once they have transitioned. Thus a transsexual or transgender person can come out twice: once before the initial transition, and once afterward to those unfamiliar with their previous gender role.

Related Topics:
Gender - Intersexuality - Gender role - Gender identity

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