Coming Out to Siblings and Parents in an Italian Sample of Lesbian Women and Gay Men

Siblings have been recognized as playing a major role in the coming out process, because they share the same family as the lesbian and gay individual and are often of the same generation. Despite this recognized role, however, research on coming out has mainly focused on parents, and only few studies have examined the coming out process with respect to siblings.

This study used a sample of 241 lesbians and 171 gay men to examine the frequency with which Italian sexual minorities come out to significant persons in their life.

Most participants reported that they had revealed their sexual orientation to their mother (71%), father (55%), brother (63%), sister (75%), and best friend (94%). Younger participants (15–25 years; M = 17.91, SD = 2.57) reported an earlier coming out experience than did older participants (26–45 years; M = 22.49, SD = 5.23). Chi-square tests revealed that lesbians were more likely to conceal their sexual identity to their father and brother. Again, lesbians reported higher frequencies of coming out to an older brother than a younger brother. First-born gay men were more likely to reveal their sexual orientation to their father than were those with an older sibling. Logistic regression showed that self-disclosure to both parents was associated with male gender, adulthood, average or good socio-economic status, low internalized sexual stigma, and high positive identity.

The discussion focuses on coming out and the importance of this process in promoting positive identity and well-being in sexual minorities.