I truly wish you were right—that nobody cares. But unfortunately a lot of people care. Many straight people care, or we wouldn't have to fight for our rights. As gay people, we care, because we want to find each other. Realistically, we make up a scant 3-5% of the population. That's a very small selection of…

yes, every time a straight person talks about their boyfriend/girlfriend or husband/wife they are 'coming out.' you get to enjoy the privilege of this every day.

I think Platypus Man covered most of the basics here but I wanted to reply myself so I could tell you why I wrote this and why I think it's important. (Hopefully it'll post, as I'm on a plane all day and the Wi-Fi is horrible.) I appreciate you asking, by the way. A lot of people (some of whom are in this…

No, heterosexuals can and should fight on behalf of their gay friends as well. But honesty about your story is a powerful tool.

Interracial couples had to fight for the right to marry as well. It was good for all their allies to support them, but we also did need interracial couples to be fighting and visible.

The…

While that's what Adam led with, as the big part of his coming out and undoing the part of his life where he was in the closet, hiding his real feelings, letting people assume he is straight and perhaps even saying he is straight, that is only what he led with. The last paragraph talks perfectly about other ways of…

You're the one who's stupid. As straight people, we "come out" all the time. Every time I talk about a hot guy, or mention my husband, or even show off my wedding ring, I've just shown everyone I'm straight.

Because engaging in all those things mentioned *IS* coming out. Coming out doesn't have to be standing on a table, waving a flag, and saying "I LIKE TO SUCK COCK!" through a megaphone. Introducing someone to your same-sex partner is coming out. ANY time you inform someone you're not straight, you're coming out.

Another big reason people come out is because there are still people who hate gay people.

please read this and consider what we have to put up with that you do not

Wow - I never realized until now that I've never seen anything on Lifehacker about being LGBTQ. <3

So when I hold hands with my girlfriend and/or give her a kiss in public I'm not proclaiming to the world that I'm straight!? Man, I must be doing it wrong.

Straight people let others know they're straight EVERY MINUTE OF EVERY DAY. They talk about their wives and kids, have pictures of their family on their desks at work, hold hands and kiss in public, go on dates, go out in public with their partners, talk about their attractions, all NON STOP.

To the straight people in this thread, how did you meet your wife? Were you introduced by friends, set up by a relative, struck up a conversation in the supermarket?

Personally, I think you're considering "coming out" to be something other than it is. It's simply informing people of a fact, a fact that they're not likely to automatically assume, and it's usually done with people you are close to. I'm not gay, but I do know others who are. "Coming out" means they talk about…

I just don't see the need to go around and broadcast your sexual preference.

There is a misconception that coming out is ablut broadcasting sexual orientation, when it is not. Coming out is the process of undoing the automatic assumption that all people are straight. People always all men about girlfriends and wives, but gay people have to correct them. Humans are social beings too, so it's…

Because the assumption is that everyone is heterosexual. I'm 35 and I don't tell people I'm gay unless they ask. But they always assume I'm straight so I find myself having no choice but to tell them. Like my co-worker who assumed that when I mentioned my partner's name that I was talking about my dog. I don't…

I think at least part of it is something that Adam mentioned: when people around you talk about their partners or when family members ask if you have an opposite-sex partner. It gets exhausting telling them no but being afraid to tell them WHY not. And it's stressful. It makes it seem like that's what they WANT from…

Coming Out Never Ends