How important is to be “out”?

Jason Cherniak had an interesting post today.  I guess someone in the blogosphere had said that Cherniak was gay and then later had a post saying that he is in fact not gay.  Jason Cherniak uses the opportunity to discuss the far too common phenomenon of gay politicians who are not publicly out.  He mentions, not by name, a member of the Conservative cabinet is widely known to be gay in political circles but is not publicly out.  Jason Cherniak does not say whether he thinks all gay politicians should come out, this is probably a wise stance for Jason to take as he is not himself gay and cannot possibly understand what coming out means for a person.  I on the other hand am gay, and I am out, and I do have something to say about this.

The gay, but not out, but widely known to be gay cabinet minister being talked about is to my knowledge John Baird.  I have no direct proof of this, I have only heard a few rumours, some that seemed fairly credible to me.  I have a major problem with John Baird for his political views and his overly aggressive speaking style in the House of Commons.  I have an even bigger problem with a public figure, who garners large amounts of national media attention, not speaking up about his sexuality in a time where queer youth still have suicide rates much higher than heterosexual youth.  Coming out still has positive social and political effects.  It is still an important act when every single person comes out as gay (or lesbian, or bi, or queer, or whatever non-hetero label you apply to yourself).  If more politicians would be open and honest about their sexuality a powerful message would be sent to the public and queer youth that it is okay to be gay.

I would think that gay people of conservative leanings would think it even more important to come out of the closet.  There is a general feeling amongst the public, and I would say amongst the gay community as well, that gay people are largely progressive types with liberal views on most issues.  There are gay conservatives (small c and big C) but they rarely are heard inside and outside of the community.  I would not describe myself as a Conservative, or conservative, but I would say that I am often outside the general opinion when it comes to many views expressed by the gay community.  Far too often community leaders and community publications are taken as speaking for the whole gay community.  If there are gay or lesbian MPs sitting in the Conservative benches they should stand up, speak out and let the public, and in particular gay youth, know that there is nothing wrong with being gay

If queer people are uncomfortable coming out because of their political views and the reaction that they would receive from people with similar political views than maybe those queer people should rethink the politics that they support.  I do not see how any self-respecting person can hide such a key part of their person, such as their sexuality, to preserve their political ambitions.  I say shame on all closeted politicians.  Coming out still has the power to literally save lives.  There is nothing whatsoever wrong with being gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, or two-spirited.  It is time that we stop giving closeted politicians a free pass.