Some reasons why LGBTQ people stay closeted include discrimination, fear for one's safety, internalized homophobia or transphobia or living in a hostile environment.
For example, the writer Thomas Mann entered a heterosexual marriage with a woman in 1905, and had six children, but discussed his attraction to men in his private diary, which by contemporary terms would have designated him a closeted homosexual man.
Later in the 1960s, the metaphor of a "skeleton in the closet", which meant to hide a secret due to taboos or social stigmas, was also used in reference to a gender identity or sexuality that one may not wish to disclose.
[1] One linguistic study suggests that the transgender community may use different vocabulary to refer to the disclosure status of one's gender identity, such as "stealth" in place of "closeted".
[2][dubious – discuss] A 2019 study by the Yale School of Public Health estimated that 83% of LGBT people around the world do not reveal their sexual orientation.
[7] A study by Lal Zimman noted that among transgender people, coming before and after taking up their corresponding gender role is separated into distinct categories of "declaration" and "disclosure".
[11] Overall, a study in 2017 found that among members of the Japanese LGBTQ+ community, coming out of the closet was generally considered desirable, but the process may be complicated by patriarchal or heteronormative ideals held by society.
[11] Frank T. Y. Wang argues that among gay or bisexual Taiwanese men, the societal importance of a family or household unit is the primary reason why one may choose to remain closeted.
[12] According to a 2020 survey by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, 30% of LGBT people in the EU are very rarely or almost never open; the highest percentages are Lithuania (60%), Bulgaria (54%) and Romania and Serbia (both 53%).
[8] Some scholars criticize that coming out of the closet in North America is at times associated with migration from a rural, conservative area to a progressive urban one.
[18] However, there are numerous social, economic, familial, and personal repercussions that may lead to someone remaining, whether consciously or unconsciously, "in" the closet.
[citation needed] For example, the Lavender Scare led to the implementation of Executive Order 10450 in 1953,[19] which banned all gays and lesbians from working in the US federal government, forcing employees who wished to retain their jobs to remain closeted.