Coming Out Model

We face judgment, assumptions, and stereotypes in our everyday lives about how we dress, the color of our hair, and even our body figures. People will also assume about factors of someone’s identity. For example, the overwhelming heterosexist tone of society leads most to assume everyone is heterosexual. Imagine being a homosexual male or female, or a person struggling with gender identity or sexual orientation and people wrongly assuming about such a critical part of your identity. LGBT people who have yet to acknowledge their sexual identity or orientation face these assumptions everyday. In order to overcome judgment and gain a better understanding of themselves, LGBT undergo the process of “coming out”. According to Baiocco, Fontanesi,
Their studies on coming out across a life-course show that most participants in the study disclosed their sexual orientation to a non-parent the most, then to their mother, and the least to their father (p. 291). According to Rivers and Gordon (2009), “coming out to family members represents a critical milestone in lesbian, gay and bisexual development” (p. 2). LGB individuals who perceive their families as cohesive and authoritative experience less negative outcomes than those who perceive their families as rigid and authoritarian (Rivers et al. 2009, p. 2). Carnelley, Hepper, Hicks, and Turner (2011) state that LGB individuals find their parents the hardest people to disclose to, but most will come out to their parents. If a LGB individual perceives their parents, particularly their mother, as trustworthy, they are more likely to disclose their sexual orientation. Another way coming out can be analyzed is through the attachment theory. Coming out can be seen as an extremely attachment-related event, and coming out for LGB individuals can alter attachment with their parents, which is why it is
Baiocco et al. says that “parental rejection at the time of disclosure is a strong, negative event that can affect all aspects of an adolescent’s life, and it is crucial to understand how this reaction is elicited and how to support parent, child, and family adjustment following the disclosure” (p. 1491). How this disclosure is taken involves a variety of factors, including religion, cultural and educational backgrounds, and political ideology. If parents have preconceived notions that sexuality can be taught or learned, sometimes they will be repulsed by the disclosure and want to hold their child accountable for choosing their sexual orientation, instead of believing that it is inherent and just a newly discovered aspect of their identity. Coming out has been defined as an “entire family experience”. This being said, coming out also involves siblings and it is important to take into account the effects the coming out process has on them as