Outing, truth-telling, and the shame of the closet

This essay examines the nature of being in the closet, coming out, and the practice of outing. It is argued that no general rule against outing can be maintained since outing others may be defensible as one pursues one's own legitimate legal and moral interests. Neither does privacy extend to all aspects of human life which someone may wish to keep secret, especially if information about sexual orientation is not obtained in any immoral way. Withholding information about sexual orientation may sometimes be justified but on grounds of secrecy and not in a way that always forbids outing. The shame and degradation of the closet are evils, but outing is not necessarily their solution, though any loss of "privacy" entailed by coming out of the closet can be more than compensated by the rewards of casting off implications of worthlessness.