But it is a flagrant act of arrogance to take away someone’s autonomy to choose to come out where and when they are ready to. It is a nice story we can tell ourselves to help resolve the moral dissonance of outing someone without their consent. Personally, when it comes to someone’s sexuality, I don’t buy the “public interest” script. Even within the LGBTQ community, we must understand why the consequences of outing may be felt so deeply (that Hornery himself is openly gay was a curious detail). Who cares these days, right? Let people be who they are!īut these mantras are a luxury for anyone who isn’t part of a minority community and has to face the sometimes complex reality of being “other”. When deciding to out someone without their consent, there may be justifications made about raising awareness or honouring love, now that same-sex relationships are more widely celebrated in society. The SMH column, for example, would probably have had oversight from a desk editor, subeditor and senior editor, who all seemingly saw fit for the column to be published. But clearly, as a society, we again need to ask ourselves: what right does anyone have to claim someone’s sexuality as public interest?Įvery public outing is the result of a series of conscious, human decisions. As I write this piece in a national newspaper, I question the value in covering Wilson’s propelled coming out story even further. The Human Rights Campaign defines outing someone as “exposing someone’s lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender identity to others without their permission”.
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