As an older queer, allow me to say: the walls of the closet are load-bearing. It is our job as a community to stand in front of that door and tell everyone who wants to peek inside to fuck off.
There are so many reasons a person may choose not to come out and there is no reason a person would owe the public or a stranger that information. Certainly it's not owed simply because someone is famous.
We have fought for decades to make it safer for people to be open and authentic about themselves, but we are not yet there. And even if we were, the closet would still be something we need to maintain for those who are not ready to reveal that part of themselves.
May we never become so obsessed with representation that we forget the sanctity of privacy.
Litmus test: if you live in a world where Coming Out exists, the closet must be allowed to exist
because it means you live in a world where sexuality and gender are assumed go have a norm, and those who reinforce that norm will harm people outside it. if we are being placed Outside, we need an Inside to shelter us from that wrath
the immediate alternative is not liberation, because that is a process that takes time. until it occurs, the alternative is leaving everyone who is exposed and vulnerable without a viable shelter

















