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Abstract An open-ended questionnaire, assessing how, when, where, why, and to whom 23 gay men and 17 lesbians in the United States disclose their sexual orientation revealed a high degree of selectivity and fear of rejection, as well as checking out the receiver's views about homosexuality before disclosing what is considered as intimate data. Respondents cited honesty, developing meaningful relationships, education of non-gays, and maintaining a positive self-image as major considerations in self-disclosing their sexual orientation. Gender differences were found between women and men supporting traditional sex-role socialization.
Wells et al. (Wed,) studied this question.