What Does It Mean to “Come Out”?

What does it mean to "come out"? 

Coming out is a lifelong process of self-acceptance. Somebody is going to forge an identity to themselves first, and then they may reveal it to other people. So publicly sharing that identity may or may not be part of coming out. 

When you look at the definition of coming out, it's the process of internally identifying then socially disclosing it, voluntarily telling people. 

What we have to keep in mind is that it is a lifelong process, meaning that throughout our lives, we're constantly going through this process of defining “who I am”. For some people, it's a very static thing, for other people it's not a static thing. 

Coming out involves an internal process and the process of deciding you're going to tell your loved ones, your family, your people at work, telling healthcare providers and caregivers, and such. And then finally out as a person who self identifies as LGBTQ in their personal and their public or their professional lives. For the LGBTQ individual, it really is a lifelong process.

This Ask the Expert is an edited excerpt from the webinar, Supporting the LGBTQ Senior in Healthcare, presented by Kathleen Weissberg, OTD, MS, OTR/L.