Abstract: The purpose of this phenomenological research is to trace and understand the experiences of closeted gays before and after they came out of the metaphorical closet, in terms of interpersonal relationship. Qualitative method was used in the study and interview was conducted to nine participants from the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual (LGB) Community. The data collected from the participants were validated and supported by the information given by two key informants. The results determined that the interpersonal communication between closeted gays and the people around them is different before and after they come out because before coming out, closeted gays has more aloof interpersonal relationship with people as they were afraid that their real orientation will be revealed; however, after disclosing their real sexual orientation, closeted gays enhanced communication with people as they can share more information about themselves. There are various ways on how closeted gays came out of the closet, in terms of communication–verbal and non-verbal. The enhancement of the communication that closeted gays receive differs according to the acceptance they were given by the people whom they disclose their real sexual orientation with. However, there are still boundaries to the kind of information to be shared between gays and straight community, due to diverse level of acknowledgement. Jointly, these findings suggest the need for narrowing the scope of the term interpersonal communication and setting age perimeter of the participants to be able to extract more precise data and also for the study to be narrower.
Keywords: Closeted gays, Coming out, Self-Acknowledgment.
Title: I’m Coming Out: Phenomenological Study on Self - Acknowledgement of Closeted Gays
Author: Reginald H. Gonzales, Diana Paula C. Antonio, Jaira R. Barrot, Alyssa Joy B. Camerino, Kathleen Rose E. Morales
International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research
ISSN 2348-3156 (Print), ISSN 2348-3164 (online)
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