The Problem of Coming Out

This article focuses on contemporary research pertaining to the closet and coming out within and around educational settings in Australia, Britain, and the United States. The research tends to forge a relationship between inclusivity and coming out, a relationship that often situates the closet as a zone of shame and exclusion. Lesbian and gay politics often tend to reinforce this relationship. Many educational researchers are perturbed by "the coming out imperative" and point to some of the limitations of this discourse in diverse educational contexts. This article considers these limitations as well as the possibilities that may surface when coming out becomes a pedagogical practice in the college classroom. In sum, this article considers how teachers and students might benefit from being mindful of the moral, political, and pedagogical issues that necessarily influence educational discourses of the closet and coming out.