National Coming Out Day, observed annually on 11 October, marks the anniversary of the 1987 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. It’s a day to celebrate the bold, liberating and courageous act of coming out and living openly, and to also acknowledge the diverse and multidimensional nature of coming out.
There is no singular coming out (or staying in) experience, and it’s important to make space for stories that may not match our expectations. This might include the stories of those for whom coming out is not a single, pivotal moment in time, but a gradual, nonlinear process. It might also include stories of those who are not able or ready to come out, and of those who simply don’t feel that they need or want to come out. So, on 11 October, let’s celebrate the diverse ways we come out (or stay in) by showing our support to those who have paved the way and who publicly share their queerness, as well as the ones who live more quietly, but with no less resilience or bravery.
This National Coming Out Day, get involved by:
- learning more about the resources and support available at Griffith for our LGBTQIA+ community
- joining the Griffith Ally Network by completing the LGBTQIA+ inclusion workshop
- listening to Innies + Outies, an ABC podcast featuring stories from diverse LGBTQIA+ Australians about coming out or staying in.
Take it further
Start exploring the complexity of the coming out experience and the conversation surrounding it by checking out some of Griffith’s open access publications:
- Reframing the subject/reframing the self: contextualising lesbian ontology in North of the Border: stories from the “A Matter of Time” project
- Representations of rural lesbian lives in young adult fiction
- Queering rurality: reading the miseducation of Cameron Post geographically
Visit Griffith Research Online for more open access research exploring coming out and other LGBTQIA+ topics.
