“Forever Coming Out: The ‘Safety Dance’ of LGBTQIA+ Disclosure”, Dr. Maureen Outlaw Book Launch

Congratulations to Dr. Outlaw, who had a new book come to print on February of this year!
Three of her Sociology alumni students of helped contribute to the coding of the data. “Forever Coming Out” is a book that challenges the persistent myth of a singular coming-out experience and introduces the concept of the “safety dance,” a recurring and complex set of assessments and adjustments LGBTQIA+ individuals engage in when determining whether, and when, to disclose their identity. The notion of the safety dance is based on data and insights from interviews with 69 LGBTQ+ adults’ lived experience of identity disclosure and exposure (“coming out”) in various regions throughout the United States. The book highlights the interaction of social forces and social institutions as critical variables impacting decisions. Ultimately, it provides a way of understanding this ever-present feature in the lives of LGBTQIA+ people through examining their approaches, awareness, assessments, and adjustments to the social scenarios they encounter.