Closeted flag
Closeted, or In The Closet, is a term for someone who has told no or very few individuals about their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, gender identity or another queer identity/experience.
Trans closeted flag
Someone may be closeted around some individuals and not others. For example, if someone told their friends about their sexuality or gender, but not their parents, they would be "out of the closet" around their friends, but "closeted" around their parents.
Some reasons someone might be closeted include:
- Safety; one may be stuck in a queerphobic family, community and/or location where queer identity is illegal or punishable in some way.
- Unsure about their identity/experience; someone might be sure they are queer in some way, but have not discovered a label for themselves or are unsure about that they experience.
- Fear of acceptance; they might fear that they won't be accepted by their family and their friends.
- Internalized queerphobia; someone might be in denial/against their own experience/identity and, due to this, remains closeted to convince themselves it "can't be true."
Being closeted can have many negative mental ramifications, as which suppressing any part of one's personality or identity. This can lead to low self-esteem, loss of sleep, depression and a higher rate of suicide attempts, among other things.
Resources[]
https://www.lgbtqia.wiki/wiki/Closeted
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