(Gabriel Góes/)
Brazilians literally translated the US slang: “come out of the closet”. This, in turn, was probably created from two other expressions in the English language. In the 19th and 20th centuries, “come out” (“go out” or “disclose”) was the verb used when debutantes presented themselves to society, at large parties, to attract potential husbands. It was as if the girls now “revealed” as adults.
The expression “skeletons in the closet” has always been synonymous with a shameful secret. In the case of gays, due to prejudice, that secret was their sexual orientation. So “come out of the closet” became a good metaphor for homosexuals finally coming out to the world and showing that they had nothing to hide.
Reader Question Vitor Melloni Rodrigues, Sao Caetano do Sul, SP
Illustrates Gabriel Goes
Sources Book Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940by George Chauncey; Mental Floss