National Coming Out Day

KU Medical Center Home
Other

National Coming Out Day is an international event which gives gay, lesbian and bisexual people the opportunity to "come out" to others about their sexuality. It also provides a means of increasing the visibility of gay people. In the United States, the day is facilitated by the Human Rights Campaign's National Coming Out Project (NCOP).

The first National Coming Out Day was held on October 11, 1988. This date was chosen for the annual event in commemoration of the 1987 March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. It also marks the anniversary of the first visit of the AIDS Memorial Quilt to Washington, D. C.

Many communities and college campuses sponsor activitities such as dances, film festivals, workshops, literature booths, and rallies on National Coming Out Day.

Diversity Calendar Home

Suggested readings about coming out:

The NCOP provides a substantial reading list. The Watson Library at the University of Kansas, Lawrence has several of these books in its collection including:

  • Positively gay: new approaches to gay and lesbian life
  • Looking at gay and lesbian life
  • The Lesbian path
  • Is it a choice?: answers to 300 of the most frequently asked questions about gays and lesbians
  • Revelations: a collection of gay male coming out stories
  • Bi any other name: bisexual people speak out
  • Now that you know: what every parent should know about homosexuality
  • Beyond acceptance: parents of lesbians and gays talk about their experiences
  • Parents matter: parents' relationships with lesbian daughters and gay sons
  • Different daughters: a book by mothers of lesbians
  • AIDS in the workplace: legal questions and practical answers
  • Gay issues in the workplace
  • The 100 best companies for gay men and lesbians
  • The corporate closet: the professional lives of gay men in America
  • Coming out to parents: a two-way survival guide for lesbians and gay men and their parents
  • Rubyfruit jungle
  • Children of Horizons: how gay and lesbian teens are leading a new way out of the closet
  • Peter
  • A boy's own story
  • Serving in silence

If you are affiliated with KUMC, you may request any of these books through Interlibrary Services.

HTML check