Outing: Socially Responsible or Socially Reprehensible? Part I

Ironically, opponents of civil rights for gays and lesbians also use outing for political purposes. In 1998, for instance, the UK’s homophobic Sun publication outed three members of British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s cabinet, speculating that England was being run by a “gay mafia” and that these gay ministers would somehow “work together.” Obviously, the intent was to undermine confidence in Blair and give his opponents an edge.

Outing is also used to embarrass or harass lesbigays and their families. Again, both lesbigay activists and their homophobic opponents have used outing for this purpose. Lesbigays generally tend to use outing against people we perceive as being “traitors,” people who reap the benefits of the gay rights movement, but either do not support it or actively oppose it. The lesbigay community has also used outing to embarrass homophobic public figures who happen to have lesbigay children. The son of rabidly-conservative homophobe Phyllis Schlafly is a case in point. When John Schlafly started turning up at gay bars, the lesbigay press quickly outed him, much to the embarrassment of his mother. Another case in point is Mary Cheney, daughter of “rock solid conservative” Vice President Dick Cheney, whose lesbianism was widely publicized by the gay presses during the 2000 election.

Homophobes, on the other hand, tend to focus less on celebrities (with the exception of Teletubbies’ poor Tinky-Winky) and use outing to scare average people away from gay pride rallies, political meetings, etc. One extremely homophobic group in Kansas, for instance, occasionally photographs college students at gay pride rallies, then obtains the student’s name and address and sends pictures to his or her family. Students in the military can also expect their commanding officer to get a copy of the pictures. Along the same lines, CBS and MSNBC analyst Laura Ingraham (who has since recanted her homophobic beliefs) once sent a reporter with a hidden tape recorder into a Gay Students Association Meeting. She then published the names of those involved with the group.

Another common reason why lesbigay groups engage in outing is to increase the visibility of the lesbigay community. There is an old joke in the community that homophobia would vanish if all lesbigay people suddenly turned a bright, shocking blue. Then we would no longer be able to hide (or “pass”) and society would be forced to acknowledge our numbers and influence.

It is certainly true that the lesbigay community is

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