Monday, September 10, 2007
No more 'outing'
(This is not the change in strategy post...look for that later today.)In the Summer of 2004, I began to share my frustration about anti-gay politicians and high-level staffers with friends and acquaintances. During those chats talks in strategy talks about the launch of the site -- many with my blogfather John Aravosis -- friends and colleagues always used the word 'outing.'
At the time I did not know that Michelangelo Signorile had written about the origins of the word and that its etymology was itself tied to a closeted gay man. In 2003 Signorile wrote in Gay City News:
The word was coined by a major closet case, William Henry III, a critic at Time magazine who is now deceased. He claimed that some gay journalists—yes, including yours truly—were doing this terrible new thing, revealing gay public figures’ homosexuality, and he claimed that some gay activists had dubbed it ‘outing.’ The word stuck, though some of us hated its violent and special connotation—we preferred simply calling it reporting.Of course, Michelangelo is 100% correct. And back in October of 2005 I said I'd no longer use the word. I've been slipping up. A lot.
Last week, a DC columnist wrote:
Rogers sees his outings -- a word he says he doesn't like, although he uses it more than a dozen times over a single lunch...I have fallen into a bit of a trap with the word...And I am going to try in earnest to not use it (except within quotation marks and never to explain my work, but that of people who indiscriminately disclose sexual orientation of others for no reason.)
So, I'm going to hold myself to a new standard. Every time I use the word "outing" -- except as noted above -- I'll give $2.00 to Truth Wins Out (the national organization beating back the so-called ex-gay movement). If I use the word here, I'll send $10 to TWO. And, worst of all, if I ever use it on air, I'll send $20 to TWO.
Keep me on my toes.
By: Michael Rogers
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