The Perceived Ethics of Outing: Approval of Outing across Different Social Contexts

Outing refers to the disclosure of an individual's sexual or gender identity without their permission. Previous research suggests that LGBTQ+ people describe being outed as universally negative; however, there may be some circumstances in which outing may be approved (e.g. if someone engages in acts perceived as harmful). Across two studies, we examined evaluations of someone who outed a gay man's sexual orientation in various situations (e.g. the outed person was a politician who supported anti-LGBTQ+ policies). In Study 1, heterosexual and LGBTQ+ participants approved more of not disclosing a gay man's sexual orientation compared to outing him, but approval differed across context. Participants were more approving of outing a target who did harm (i.e. sexual assault or sexual harassment) compared to a target who did not do harm. In Study 2, LGBTQ+ participants demonstrated similar patterns to Study 1. Study 2 also demonstrated that approval of outing was associated with perceptions of harm of concealing and harm of revealing a target's sexual orientation. Ultimately, these findings suggest that context may influence approval and disapproval of outing someone.