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An overview of coming out research: Introducing a three‐lens typology

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Elisabeth Theresa Sandler
Elisabeth Theresa Sandler
Elisabeth Theresa Sandler
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Abstract and Figures

Coming out is a fast‐growing global research area with numerous interdisciplinary publications dedicated to its exploration. To contribute to a more organised and concise way of understanding this rapidly expanding field, I introduce a three‐lens typology. Based on the systematic categorisation of over 700 publications, coming out research can be viewed via the following three lenses: (1) the different social institutions in which individuals come out, (2) to whom individuals come out, and (3) the content of individuals' coming out. The identified lenses focus on ‘coming out in’, ‘coming out to’ and ‘coming out as’, which adds to current conceptual understandings of ‘coming out into’ and ‘coming out of’. Further, lens 3 demonstrates another usage shift of the coming out terminology. The concept of coming out originally was used outside of sexuality contexts and currently is being used more broadly again. However, in contrast to its original meaning, the new areas of application (e.g., fatness, atheism, illness) are still linked to conceptualisations and experiences of non‐normativity. This publication assists students, scholars, and practitioners with navigating the extensive amount of coming out literature. It further illustrates the potential and challenges of coming out research and points towards the future—the if, how and what—of this field.
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Department of Sociology, University of
Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Correspondence
Elisabeth Theresa Sandler, Department
of Sociology, University of Cambridge,
Cambridge, UK.
Email: ets31@cam.ac.uk
Abstract
Coming out is a fast-growing global research area with nu-
merous interdisciplinary publications dedicated to its explo-
ration. To contribute to a more organised and concise way
of understanding this rapidly expanding field, I introduce a
three-lens typology. Based on the systematic categorisa-
tion of over 700 publications, coming out research can be
viewed via the following three lenses: (1) the different social
institutions in which individuals come out, (2) to whom indi-
viduals come out, and (3) the content of individuals' coming
out. The identified lenses focus on ‘coming out in’, ‘coming
out to’ and ‘coming out as’, which adds to current conceptual
understandings of ‘coming out into’ and ‘coming out of’. Fur-
ther, lens 3 demonstrates another usage shift of the coming
out terminology. The concept of coming out originally was
used outside of sexuality contexts and currently is being
used more broadly again. However, in contrast to its original
meaning, the new areas of application (e.g., fatness, atheism,
illness) are still linked to conceptualisations and experiences
of non-normativity. This publication assists students, schol-
ars, and practitioners with navigating the extensive amount
of coming out literature. It further illustrates the potential
and challenges of coming out research and points towards
the future—the if, how and what—of this field.
KEYWORDS
coming out, disclosure, gender, LGBTQ+, non-normativity, sexuali-
ty, social institutions
ARTICLE
An overview of coming out research: Introducing a
three-lens typology
Elisabeth Theresa Sandler
DOI: 10.1111/soc4.12958
Received: 20 September 2020    Revised: 11 December 2021    Accepted: 6 January 2022
1 of 48
Sociology Compass. 2022;16:e12958.
https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12958
© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/soc4
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... It is not a personal attribute but a function of relationships, as stigma occurs when minorities are denigrated, discredited, and constructed as invalid by others (LaSala, 2010). In this regard, by focusing on the coming out process using the three-lens typology of coming out 'in', 'to', and 'as' as well as the counterpart's 46 / 100 reaction, power relations and stereotypes of the community can be exposed (Sandler, 2022). The subchapter of 'Coming Out' examines the disclosures and responses to each drama. ...
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... These may include confrontational conversations (when a person is demanded to come out, because another person has collected information which suggests that they are a part of the LGBTQI + community) or romantic/personal conversations (when there is no declarative statement like "I am gay", but instead, there is an implicit assertion like "I kind of like guys"). Adding a broader scope to the coming out research, Stadler (2022) offers a robust review of "coming out in" (entry/arrival), "coming out of"(exit), "coming out to", and "coming out as" (Stadler 2022). The combination of Manning and Stadler offers a wider understanding of the potential communication processes that surround coming out. ...
... While the responses could be critiqued for offering fairly vague, run-of-the-mill advice, the responses also largely offered advice that is in line with the current conversations on best practices for coming out (e.g., Stadler 2022). With this in mind, there were also instances of error as well as some potential problematics of interpellation that may attend coming out advice from an AI chatbot. ...
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... However, we do not expect the visual effect to be consistent across all social categories. Drawing on the literature on coming out, which posits that in the absence of confirmatory cues, people who belong to invisible categories such as non-binary and LGB status are assumed to be members of normative categories (i.e., gender binaries and heterosexuality) (Martin, 2009;Sandler, 2022), we hypothesize that invisible categories such as non-binary and LGB status may entail less discrimination when voters are exposed to visual cues. ...
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... Seeking to better understand the phenomenon and the research related to coming out, Sandler (2022) examined the literature on coming out and distinguished it in terms of (1) the various institutions in which individuals do their coming out; (2) the people to whom the coming out is addressed; and (3) the content, language, and meaning of coming out. ...
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