I Came Out to You But You Outed Me: Exploring Communication Privacy Turbulence in Coming Out Conversations

Coming out is a narrative process through which individuals identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) navigate their private information within relational contexts that usually unpredictable. Guided by Communication Privacy Management (CPM) theory, this study examined how LGBTQ+ individuals control their physical, social and communicative environments while working their coming out conversations. Drawing on in-depth qualitative interviews with LGBTQ+ participants (N = 12) recruited from different sources, this study employed a reflexive thematic analysis following Braun and Clarke's (2006) approach to identifying the different strategies in which participants managed and responded to the privacy risks associated with their sexual identity information. Analysis suggested that participants shaped their environments before and after coming out by managing the audience, the timing of disclosure and by framing the conversation. Findings from the study highlighted how the environment control functioned as a privacy management strategy allowing participants to minimize potential boundary and relational turbulence. Participants also described a few spatial arrangements, cultural norms and familial bonds in shaping their disclosure discussions. This study extends CPM theory by foregrounding the role of environmental management as a proactive component of privacy regulation rather than a contextual backdrop to disclosure. By showing how individuals managed their environmental conditions to support their coming out conversation outcomes, the findings complicate the existing understanding of disclosure as a discrete communicative act. Practically, the results offered insights for educators, families and professional organizations to create an environment that could be more discrete, safer and affirming to LGBTQ+ individuals. Overall, this research unpacks the importance of managing environmental factors, relational bonds, and cultural norms in both theoretical and applied approaches to privacy management and coming out conversations.