The contested closet: The ethics and politics of outing

Abstract

Western culture proclaims an ethic of honesty according to which we are urged to present our authentic selves to the world. Western journalism proclaims standards of objectivity and truth telling that do not permit deliberate falsehood. Yet gay people are frequently at risk of discrimination and attack if their sexual identity is visible, and the media generally collude in efforts to maintain a misleading facade of heterosexuality. Gay activists’ controversial tactic of “outing”; closeted homosexuals represents a challenge to journalistic practice and individual privacy in the name of community accountability.