National Coming Out Day

Coming Out Day was founded in 1988 by Richard Eichberg, a psychologist, and Jean O'Leary, a gay rights activist, to raise awareness of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and its civil rights movement. They chose October 11th to mark the anniversary of the second major National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, which took place 1987. With estimates of half a million people participating, it was nearly five times the size of the first march in 1979. National Coming Out Day is observed throughout the U.S. and other countries around the world.

APA Resources on Coming Out

• Reducing Sexual Prejudice: The Role of Coming Out 
• From the public information brochure, "Answers to Your Questions for a Better Understanding of Sexual Orientation & Homosexuality" ("En español")  
  • What is "coming out" and why is it important?   
  • What about sexual orientation and coming out during adolescence?   
  • At what age should lesbian, gay or bisexual youths come out?
• What Coming Out as an LGBT Ally Taught Me
  By Diana Popp, communications coordinator, Michigan Project for Informed Public Policy Public Interest blog post, October 2013