National Coming Out Day

National Coming Out Day
Logo designed by Keith Haring for the Human Rights Campaign's advocacy of the day
Observed byLGBT community
TypeLGBT awareness day
ObservancesComing out
DateOctober 11
Next timeOctober 11, 2025 (2025-10-11)
FrequencyAnnual
First timeOctober 11, 1988 (United States)
Related toSecond National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights

National Coming Out Day (NCOD) is an annual LGBT awareness day observed on October 11 to support anyone "coming out of the closet".[1] First celebrated in the United States in 1988, the initial idea was grounded in the feminist and gay liberation spirit of the personal being political, and the emphasis on the most basic form of activism being coming out to family, friends, and colleagues, and living life as an openly LGBTQIA+ person.[2] The founders believed that homophobia thrives in an atmosphere of silence and ignorance and that once people know that they have loved ones who are LGBTQIA+, they are far less likely to maintain homophobic or oppressive views.[3]

  1. ^ "History of Coming Out & Themes of NCOD". Human Rights Campaign. Archived from the original on June 4, 2020. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
  2. ^ Hoffman, Amy (2007) An Army of Ex-Lovers: My life at the Gay Community News. University of Massachusetts Press. pp.xi-xiii. ISBN 978-1558496217
  3. ^ "Robert Eichberg, 50, Gay Rights Leader". The New York Times. August 15, 1995.