Word: closet
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...successful Delta of Venus, have now published the dross. Where Delta of Venus is sometimes cloying, Little Birds is actually offensive. While I was somewhat uneasy at the characterizations of huge, lusty men and women who were "genuine whores" in Delta, Nin really comes out of the closet in Little Birds. If there are sadists, they are men. If there are masochists, they are women. The twin gods of Freud and D.H. Lawrence's are worshipped more fervently than ever...
...more than six sexual experiences with a member of the same gender. On that basis, the institute estimates that homosexuals constitute 10% of the U.S. population (13% of the males, 5% of the females). Of these, according to gay leaders, perhaps only 1% or so are out of the closet. The rest are still known as homosexuals only to themselves and perhaps a few trusted friends. Until a decade ago, they had nothing in common but their sexual orientation and fear of society's contempt...
Even outside such "gay ghettos" as San Francisco's, the most striking evidence of the movement is the astonishing proliferation of organizations dedicated publicly to serving homosexuals, whether out of or still in the closet. They are designed to help gays in what is still in the overwhelming majority of cases a lonely struggle: first the battle within themselves to face the truth about their sexual orientation, then the excruciatingly difficult decision whether or not to "come out" -and if so, when and to whom...
Even among those gays who have decided to reveal their sexuality, very few are all the way out of the closet. Some reveal their homosexuality to a few trusted friends but not to parents; some to parents but not to grandparents; some to families and friends but not employers. They are never sure of the reaction they will get. A young San Francisco attorney who handles the account of a major oil company for one of the city's most prestigious law firms finally steeled himself to reveal his homosexuality to one of his senior partners at dinner. The boss...
Whatever course the organized gay movement may take, and whatever its victories or defeats, the outlook is for more and more homosexuals to come at least partly out of the closet. Says Chicago Psychologist Jon lost: "Ten or 15 years ago, homosexuality was just not discussed, and many people suffered because they simply did not know that there have always been people like themselves. Everything that has happened in the past few years has reduced the potential for that isolation. Just hearing the word gay, reading it in a newspaper, seeing a gay person, real or fictional, on television...