National Coming Out Day Celebration and Latin Referents of the LGBTQ Community

National ‘Coming Out Day’ is celebrated every year on October 11th. It’s a date that aims to raise awareness about the importance of making visible, speaking about and reclaiming the rights of people in the LGBTQAI+ community. It’s a day to celebrate and empower oneself while demanding the respect that every human being deserves and reminding everyone that no one should hide because of their sexual orientation.

Although started in the United States, it soon became an international day of militancy, struggle and celebration. It was first celebrated on October 11th, 1988, one year after the second National March for Gay and Lesbian Rights held in Washington, DC. That march brought together approximately 500,000 people and was known as ‘The Great March.’

The Cleve Jones’ NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt was exhibited there for the first time, a collective creation that had begun two years earlier and was made up of names and memories of people who had died of AIDS-related complications. Through mosaic patchwork- fabrics that were painted, embroidered or had handcrafted appliqués- this piece rescued the memory of the deceased at a time when the social stigma of HIV deprived many people of a funeral.

At that time, displaying the quilt caused a massive stir. This was during the Reagan administration, a time marked by the AIDS crisis and the lack of public policies to help those who had the disease.

Months after that second Washington Pride parade, two activists named Robert Eichberg and Jean O’Leary began to push for “Coming Out Day.” Eichberg, a psychologist, published a book on visibility called ‘Coming Out. An act of love.’ He later passed away at the age of 50 due to AIDS-related complications.

Jean O’Leary, for her part, founded the “Lesbian Feminist Liberation,” one of the first lesbian groups within the women’s movement. Before becoming visible as a lesbian and activist, O’Leary was a nun and in 1985 she published the book ‘Lesbian Nuns: Breaking the Silence.’

It was in this context that activist Sean Strub got artist Keith Haring to join the campaign and donate the following image, which quickly became iconic. In recent years, the position once held by Eichberg and O’Leary has been taken over by the civil organization Human Right Campaign (HRC).

Musicians, artists and celebrities, among others, collaborate with this organization and the campaign has already become an international movement. Now celebrating its 29th anniversary, HRC considers Coming Out Day as a powerful tool not only to LGBTQAI people, but also to the allies who support the community.

What does it mean to ‘come out of the closet’?

This popular saying comes from the idea of having ‘something hidden in the closet,’ since it’s the closet where we keep things that we don’t want to show others or don’t want others to see.

But it was not always like this. In pre-World War I society, the term “coming out” referred to coming out to gay society. It was an introduction to non-heterosexual networking debutants, as explained in historian George Chauncey’s 1994 book ‘Gay New York.’ Over time, that “exit” to a world of “fabulous” people was joined by other exits, like the people who came out of the Bar StoneWall Inn screaming for their rights. Thus, the expressions ‘coming out’ and ‘coming out of the closet’ became unified in their meaning.

For this reason, every October 11th we are reminded that the most important things are love, respect and freedom. No one has to be locked up anywhere and we must all respect sexual diversity and the orientation that each person has because, above all, Love is Love.

5 Celebrities who are referents of the LGBT community

Lady Gaga

Since she started making music in 2008, Lady Gaga became a favourite in the LGBTQ community due to her expressions of support and claims for their rights. One of her most remembered and shocking moments was when she wore a dress made out of raw meat to the MTV awards ceremony, symbolizing her rejection of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” a law that prohibited gays from revealing their sexual orientation or discussing any homosexual relationship in the US Army.

She has also supported the international LGBTQ community. In 2013, after the publication of laws in Russia that sanction “any act that considers homosexual propaganda in front of minors,” Gaga stated that “The Russian government is criminal. Oppression will meet revolution. Russian LGBT you are not alone. We will fight for your freedom.” 

Ricky Martin

It was in 2010 when Ricky Martin came out of the closet. And from that moment on, he always speaks out and supports the rights of the LGBTQ+ collective. In 2015, after gay marriage was approved in Florida, Ricky called for this to be possible in his native Puerto Rico as well.

“Being homosexual is not a crime or a sin. It is a sexual orientation as respectable as any other,” said Ricky Martin in that moment. 

A year later, after the massacre in a gay bar in Orlando, the singer showed his outrage on social networks. Ricky also leads numerous solidarity projects dedicated to children, mainly as an ambassador for UNICEF.

Bad Bunny

‘El Conejo Malo’ uses his massive reach to send a strong message about diversity and make us question how society perceives masculinity and femininity by using fashion as a statement. You can check some of our favorite Bad Bunny’s non-binary outfits here.  

Joy Huerta

A few years ago singer Joy Huerta, from the duo Jesse and Joy, said that she was going to be a mother. leaving her followers surprised since no one knew much about her private life. It was along with this beautiful news that she also decided to come out publicly and declare herself part of the LGBT community.

Although she had never been known to have a partner, there was much speculation about her homosexuality, despite the fact that at some point she was romantically linked to singer Jean Carlos Canela. Joy confessed that she had already been married to Diana Atri for seven years and that they were also expecting her first baby.

“For me it is love regardless of gender. And although I never thought that the love of my life would be a woman, 7 years ago we met and love took us both by surprise,” Joy published at the time, along with the first ultrasound of her daughter.

Gloria Trevi

Although Gloria already had a legion of LGBTQ+ fans, it was In 2006 with the release of her mega-hit “Todos Me Miran” that the community consolidated her as an icon. Previously, she had shown her support with the song “El Curita, la Niña y la Loca” in 1995, where she defends the rights of sexual diversity.

In 2016 she was awarded the Maguey Diva Icon Award. She expressed that it was an honor for her, since it is an important recognition from the gay community, to which she owes so much. “La Trevi” also participated in the Gay Pride parade in Madrid, together with Mónica Naranjo.