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While people used to conceal the fact that they were gay or lesbian to protect themselves from stigma and discrimination, it is now commonplace for people to "come out" and encourage others to do so as well.
Come Out, Come Out, Whoever You Are systematically examines how coming out has moved beyond gay and lesbian rights groups and how different groups wrestle with the politics of coming out in their efforts to resist stigma and enact social change. It shows how different experiences and disparate risks of disclosure shape these groups' collective strategies. Through scores of interviews with LGBTQ+ people, undocumented immigrant youth, fat acceptance activists, Mormon fundamentalist polygamists, and sexual harassment lawyers and activists in the era of the #MeToo movement, Come Out, Come Out, Whoever You Are explains why so many different groups gravitate toward the term coming out. By focusing on the personal and political resonance of coming out, it provides a novel way to understand how identity politics work in America today.
Author: Abligail C. Saguy
Paperback Published 17 March 2020 192 pages
"[S]hows how 'coming out' is at once a cultural concept, a way to resist stigma while reaffirming an authentic self; and a political tactic, a master frame for worldmaking.... Saguy explodes the meaning of coming out.... Like all good books, Saguy's Come Out, Come Out, Whoever You Are raises many more questions than it can possibly answer." - Amin Ghaziani, Public Books
"Abigail Saguy's new book, Come Out, Come Out, Whoever You Are, offers a fascinating and powerful analysis of how various groups are using "coming out" to gain personal power, allies and increased civil rights." - Ms. Magazine
"[T]his methodically researched book worthily broadens the idea of coming out, which Saguy rightly observes, is about sharing stories that provide language, concepts, and tactics for people who have been invisible or in hiding to become visible.... Saguy gives us hope that as more people come out to resist stigma, we can all band together, despite social distancing, to advance a more just world." - The Bay Area Reporter