Founded in 1988, National Coming Out Day (NCOD) is an important milestone in the gay rights movement. Gay people have always existed in every country on every continent, but in far too many places, they had to relegate themselves to secrecy and silence. A big part of that was social and/or religious stigma associated with homosexuality. This stigma translated into serious personal consequences, spilling over into deadly violence at times. The modern world, with liberal democratic norms, is generally less violent than in the past. Negative consequences for being gay such as violence and social/familial rejection have turned into positive acceptance. Ugly exceptions exist but the world has substantially improved. I have openly gay friends and family, and I’m happy they can live their lives freely and without fear. I hope those who are still closeted are able to shed their reticence today, the 37th National Coming Out Day.

As much as culture has changed into acceptance for gays, it must be noted that there’s a war being waged by the gun control movement to push gun ownership into the closet. Gun ownership used to be completely normal and open. Just a generation ago, American high schoolers used to drive to school with rifles visibly placed in their parked trucks. Guns have been slowly pushed out of the public sphere, one move at a time. Their end goal is the stigmatization of guns and the ghettoization of gun culture.

At the intersection of these worlds are gay gun owners, who offer a unique perspective. Top Shot Chris Cheng, a Second Amendment advocate who happens to be gay, wrote the following (archived) when he came out as a gay gun owner:

Being gay is no longer something to hide. [...] …you can be happy, successful and openly gay, defined by your talents. Likewise, I will be defined by my skills and accomplishments, not my sexuality.

That said, I realize my situation is different. One reason why I chose to come out publicly is that I’m a gay guy in a gun world. Hunters, sport shooting enthusiasts, and collectors are too often stereotyped as part of efforts to politicize guns as we witnessed last week on the anniversary of the horrific Newtown tragedy. Take it from someone who in a single package is not only gay, but Chinese, Japanese, California-born, a college graduate, a tech geek who worked on cool Google projects, a gun enthusiast and a passionate 2nd Amendment advocate. Our community is as diverse as anyone’s.

A special thanks to the National Rifle Association and the National Shooting Sports Foundation, who are supportive of my decision as they recognize the diverse perspective I bring to the conversation about the safe and responsible use of firearms.

In his RecoilWeb interview (archived), Cheng said the following:

The gun rights group has the Second Amendment and we see our rights getting chipped away. The gay rights camp has been experiencing the opposite where more rights are being fought for, and won.

I think the interesting part is that both camps know what it’s like to have people trying to take away your rights. Not only do we have to fight to earn these rights, but we have to keep fighting to keep them. It doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about gay rights or gun rights, all rights must be fought for and subsequently protected.

Another person who is at the intersection of gun ownership and being gay is the former Digital Director for NRA, William ‘Billy’ McLaughlin. In an op-ed in The Washington Post (archived), he wrote:

When I was offered a position at the NRA, I felt that my core beliefs were in conflict. While I was considering the position, friends urged me to say no because the NRA was homophobic and only existed for old, straight, white men. But I convinced myself that I would be able to leave my sexuality at home and bring my Second Amendment passion to work. I took the job.

Two weeks after I started, at the NRA’s annual meeting in Dallas, Chris W. Cox, executive director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, gave a speech that impressed me. He said, “We fight for you whether you’re black, white, rich, poor, gay or straight, because your life matters equally. You have every right to be proud of it and every right to defend it, and the National Rifle Association is proud to represent you.”

It took courage but McLaughlin eventually became open about his sexuality at work. This is what he said happened:

I decided to be open about my sexuality at work. I was met with nonchalance. No one cared. I was embraced as a fellow Second Amendment supporter, just like everyone else. I work with people from all over the United States, from different faiths and of different races. Also, I’m not the only gay person. We are united in our belief that no one can take away our right to defend ourselves.

Stereotypes hurt society. They put large swaths of people in a box, and they create a sense of “otherness.” The gay community has worked hard to remove itself from that box. The values that unite us are tolerance, acceptance and personal freedom. We’ve come so far, but the journey isn’t over.

Gay gun owners like Cheng and McLaughlin offer the broader Second Amendment community valuable lessons in coming out. Just as it was important for gay people to “come out” as a first step to reshaping society’s views about them, gun owners need to come out in the face of a conscious push to stigmatize gun ownership, whether it’s gun controllers getting YouTube to restrict videos or a school punishing a 6-year old for making a finger gun. 

Normalization is our goal. Being open is the strategy.

Everyone’s situation is different. You may be afraid of social repercussions. There could be risks of professional consequences from intolerant colleagues who otherwise engage in moral exhibitionism on every social justice fad of the day. You are the best judge of your situation and best positioned to make the call on when, how, where, and to whom to “come out.”

Based on personal experience, I am happy to say that my worst fears weren’t realized when I came out as a gun owner. On the contrary, I was asked by curious people to take them to the range and introduce them to guns. I hope your experience is similar, if not vastly better.