Why do gays come out of closets?
Asked by
Sneki95 (
7017
)
November 17th, 2016
What are they doing in closets in the first place? Who put them there?
For all of the but hurt ones: I am asking about the origin of the phrase. Put your pitchfork down.
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9 Answers
lol…. My butt doesn’t hurt, Snekles. I’m not that kind of homosexual! ;)
Wow… That was bad…
Anyways… I’m really not sure, but hold on… I’ll see if I can find some background for us!
Hmm… Shamelessly stealing someone else’s answer from Quora.
“closet (n.) late 14c., from Old French closet ‘small enclosure, private room,’ diminutive of clos ‘enclosure,’ from Latin clausum ‘closed space, enclosure, confinement,‘from neuter past participle of claudere ‘to shut’ (see close (v.)). In Matt. vi:6 it renders Latin cubiculum ‘bedchamber, bedroom,’ Greek tamieion ‘chamber, inner chamber, secret room;’ thus originally in English ‘a private room for study or prayer.’ Modern sense of ‘small side-room for storage’ is first recorded 1610s.
The adjective is from 1680s, ‘private, secluded;’ meaning ‘secret, unknown’ recorded from 1952, first of alcoholism, but by 1970s used principally of homosexuality; the phrase come out of the closet ‘admit something openly’ first recorded 1963, and lent new meanings to the word out.
This something I found on etymology online, a great source. I suspect the phrase is also related to the other saying about skeletons in the closet.”
Thanks. As a fellow ass, I’m glad to hear that your ass is in peace.
Gays were called closeted when they had to hide their sexuality for fear of social or legal reprisals so coming out of the closet is being open about it.
Coming out of the closet is a euphemism for coming out of hiding.
Lack of fear of reprisals, I would assume.
Also, the skeletons in the closet. You know, the secrets.
Being closeted is an expression with the general meaning of doing something secretly. For example, you might say, “She’s been closeted with the boss for an hour,” and that means they’re having a private meeting. The reference to gays is just a specific use of the term.
It’s just an expression. A closet typically is a personal space that people put items they don’t want others coming over to see. So when they are in the closet that just means they don’t want anyone to know of their sexuality.
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