out of the closet

out of the closet

1. No longer a secret. Even though the designs for their newest smartphone are out of the closet, Sony are still refusing to comment publicly about it.
2. Of a non-heterosexual person, public and open about one's sexuality. I came out of the closet when I was in high school, and while it was certainly hard to do, it's been wonderful having the support of my friends and family for my entire adult life. You have to understand that being out of the closet back then meant you were risking your career, your freedom—maybe even your life, in certain parts of the country.
See also: closet, of, out
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

*out of the closet

 
1. Fig. revealing one's secret interests. (*Typically: be ~; Come ~; get ~.) Tom Brown came out of the closet and admitted that he likes to knit. It's time that all of you lovers of chamber music came out of the closet and attended our concerts.
2. Fig. revealing that one is homosexual. (*Typically: be ~; Come ~; bring someone ~.) Tom surprised his parents when he came out of the closet. It was difficult for him to be out of the closet.
See also: closet, of, out
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

out of the closet

out into the open. informal
Closet , the normal North American term for ‘cupboard’ or ‘wardrobe’, is used in the Bible to typify privacy and seclusion (for example in Luke 12:3: ‘that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops’). Come out of the closet means ‘cease hiding a secret about yourself’ or ‘make public your intentions’. It is now most commonly, though not always, used in connection with someone making their homosexuality public.
1998 Spectator The Prime Minister's entourage could not conceal its glee at the results of their boss coming out of the closet.
See also: closet, of, out
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • inch up
  • app
  • sink like a stone
  • sink without (a) trace
  • sink without trace
  • sink, vanish, etc. without trace
  • best of all worlds
  • leave (something or someone) standing
  • leave somebody/something standing
  • leave someone or something standing
References in periodicals archive
Ironically, when Carnes was subsequently cast in a small role on Desperate Housewives, he had no idea--and neither, it seems, did the show's writers--that his character would return months later to come out of the closet, dragging Bree Van De Kamp's teenage son with him.
To rebuild integrity you may want to plan a journey as far out of the closet as possible in the near future.
In the eight years that Kolbe has been out of the closet, his party and, more importantly, his constituents have fiercely backed him.
Even those houses that don't go that far keep a supply of gay-friendly literature on such topics as what to do if a brother comes out of the closet. Meanwhile, during the past decade university administrators and the national Greek organizations have cracked down on hazing, which all too often has involved some sort of homophobic humiliation.
The debate over Wilson's nomination drew one politician out of the closet. Republican opponent Ken Veenstra outed fellow senator Matt McCoy on the senate floor.
Still, she says, she wanted her school to participate in the national Day of Silence--a project of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network to protest anti-gay violence and harassment--because her friends couldn't safely come out of the closet. "After that day people were coming out like crazy," Adame says.
There was a girl before me that came out of the closet. [Then] I came out.
He began inching his way out of the closet and out of the church.
But a sibling's becoming a parent can stir up latent prejudices "given the polluting association of gays and child molestation," says sociologist Steve Seidman, who's writing a book analyzing problems gays face after they're out of the closet.
Haines, the funny, butch raconteur with a booming voice, is the subject of the new documentary Out of the Closet, Off the Screen: The Life of William Haines, premiering February 5 on the American Movie Classics network.
The great news that Riegel would be working closely with Emmy winner Susan Lucci (who plays Erica) got better when she found out she'd be playing the first central character in all of soapdom to come out of the closet.
While posing as limousine liberals, most of today's movie stars have shirked their responsibility to come out of the closet. There's no excuse.
"The fact that there are a lot of gay A&R people actually works against queer musicians because either they are in the closet and afraid of being outed or out of the closet and afraid of being accused of having an agenda."
"My sense is, they were so frightened and so angry, the shootings chased them out of the closet. They've needed to feel the support of each other and their straight allies and to take action, politically and spiritually."