title: The closet and the ethics of outing.
abstract: Because social circumstances have changed, the question of outing has assumed an importance unknown in a time when homosexuality was a guarded secret. This essay describes the evils of the closet in terms of its affronts to the worth of gay men and lesbians. While outing might appear as a repudiation of the closet, this essay argues that not all outing is justified. On the other hand, the article also rejects those arguments that criticize outing as a violation of privacy as well as arguments that defend outing as no violation of others' rights.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Education, University of Illinois College of Medicine 60612-7309.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McCarthy
mesh_terms: D004989:Ethics; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006716:Homosexuality / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012650:Self Disclosure; D012925:Social Conformity; D012931:Social Environment