“Coming out of the closet” has often been a metaphor for when one reveals his homosexuality. “Being in the closet implies hiding from the outside world, and the act of coming out of it implies the will to stop hiding.” When the Supreme Court legalized same sex marriage last year, many people “came out of the closet” including celebrities such as Ellen Page and Matt Bomer. Even Apple CEO Tim Cook. It is unclear exactly when gay people started using the closet metaphor, but “it may have been used initially because many men who remained ‘covert’ thought of their homosexuality as a sort of ‘skeleton in the closet.'”
In the article, Timothy Kierstead criticized Marco Rubio for his anti-same sex marriage policies. Kierstead pointedly asked “Why do you want to put me back in the closet?” to which Rubio replied “No, I just believe marriage is between one man and one woman.” What he Rubio is implying is that he will not recognize same-sex couples. He will deny them rights and benefits that are entitled to a married couple. Rubio continued: “I think that’s what the law should be. And if you don’t agree you should have the law changed by a legislature.” The law encourages people to come out of the closet. Marcio Rubio wants to put them back.
http://theweek.com/articles/464753/where-did-phrase-come-closet-come-from
I enjoyed reading your analysis of the article. I like to use this metaphor in my daily life, not only for gay people. Usually I’m using it for my puppy when he did something bad while I wasn’t at home and hiding himself in the closet literally.) But if I want to think about this metaphor in real life the first thought I get in my mind is when someone is cheating in relationship in their home and wife or husband comes home unexpectedly and you need to hide your minion somewhere – closet it’s probably the first place to go).
The phrase “in the closet” has been around for some time, and though the term may be somewhat self-explanatory (closet implies a place where something- an identity in this case- is stored), I never really knew the actual roots of how it came about. I’m glad to have read that in your post and was able to learn of a possible source.
Nowadays when I see that phrase, I don’t really question what it means. And its interesting that other phrases, like “raining cats and dogs” or “in a nutshell”, are similarly understood by most people– our society has become accustomed to such phraseology!
The metaphor “the closet” is generally used to describe the state when a homosexual remains hidden, not revealing his/her sexuality. Though, I believe the people that you mentioned as homosexual like Tim Cook already revealed his sexuality before same-sex marriage was legalized last year June 2015. Like in movies, the closet is usually where a person hides his/herself from any danger. I suppose that’s where the metaphor came from. In addition, Rubio’s response to Kierstead was simply walking away–a typical political answer as Kierstead pointed out.