Blog post #5, an ethical dilemma: disclosure

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkEi6zlgtz8

The video above is historical footage of the first openly gay elected official- Harvey Milk. The opening shot pans close to a car with the top down, Harvey sits high enough to be seen by a cheering crowd and says, "Come on out! Let's come on out!" The footage continues with Milk giving a speech that begins with the line, "My name is Harvey Milk, and I'm here to recruit you." The crowd roars at this. It's a joke, but he is also speaking in earnest. Antigay rhetoric often centers this idea of recruitment, insisting that gay adults recruit impressionable young people. Milk is not recruiting precisely, but he is urging every gay person to come out to everyone they know. "We are coming out of the closet! When are you coming out of yours?"

In "Identity Concealment and Social Change: Balancing Advocacy Goals Against Individual Needs" the authors, Michael Pasek, Gabrielle Fillip-Crawford, and Jonathon Cook outline the balance between the advocacy goals of a larger group as balanced against safety and privacy for individuals. The article considers several concealable stigmatized identities, such as survivors of sexual violence, people living with HIV-AIDS, people who experience mental illness, and members of the LGBTQIA community. The authors state that "Disclosing a concealable stigmatized social identity is potentially risky. People who disclose can be exposed to discrimination, bias, or negative stereotypes" (Pasek, Fillip-Crawford & Cook, 2017). While we could potentially debate the 'concealable' variation- not everyone in this community is able to fully conceal that fact, the essential facts remain. The level of risk an individual may face will vary greatly depending on a number of other factors. Individuals who already experience bias might be less likely to disclose, not wishing to navigate additional bias or stigma. Individuals from marginalized racial or ethnic communities, those experiencing poverty, young people who are dependant upon adults and people with disabilities might all be reticent to disclose their gender or sexuality. They might rightly fear discrimination, or additional stigma and discrimination. Those individuals might need to balance their desire to live openly as their authentic selves with their need for safety and support.

The authors agree with Milk, however, that greater visibility for the group has the long term effect of reducing bias and stigma. "individual decisions to conceal or disclose can collectively have implications for the visibility of a stigmatized group...and consequently for the likelihood of reducing structural-level stigma" (Pasek et. al., 2017). Thus the needs of the group are balanced against the needs of the individual. This article discusses individuals greater likeliness to disclose in environments that they read as accepting or tolerant ones. The authors outline a cost-benefit analysis that many individuals use to determine when to disclose. They refer to this as, 'selective disclosure.' The decision not to disclose might be made to protect an individual. The authors suggest that disclosure is typically associated with positive outcomes when it does not result in greater stigma. They note that disclosure can offset internalized stigma and support the individual's identity, as well as fostering a sense of community.

Figure 1: Individuals with rainbow flags. Staff Photographer/The Inquirer

When individuals choose not to disclose, possibly because they fear discrimination or bias, that risk of exposure will often mean that the individual cannot counter stigmatized narratives about the group as a whole. Silence might be read as agreement with biased views, rather than fear of being associated with a stigmatized group. Having to hide who you are in order to be accepted is potentially damaging to an individual's self-esteem. Therefore, nondisclosure has negative aspects for both groups and individuals. "Individual-level choices to hide a group membership, potentially offering some protection from the immediate risks of disclosure, can have the effect of reducing the visibility of a group" (Pasek et. al., 2017).

Figure 2: masked individuals wave rainbow flags. Reuters

Finally, it is widely regarded as unethical to 'out' someone, to disclose someone else's gender history or sexual orientation, without their consent. In some instances, however, it has been argued that outing someone benefits the community as a whole while allowing them to remain closeted directly harms the group. North Dakota legislator Randy Boehning was outed by an openly gay man to whom he sent explicit photos on Grindr, a gay hook-up app. The man who went public cited Boehning's then-recent vote against an anti-discrimination measure as justifying his choice to out him. This individual is far from the only openly anti-gay yet covertly gay politician to be outed in this manner. Those who interact with these individuals feel themselves to be balancing the individual's right to privacy against the harm a public figure can do when openly stoking bias against the gay community. 

Disclosure does benefit stigmatized groups, by making them more visible and normalizing the individuals within the group. But an individual's right to privacy must also be maintained. Many individuals will attempt to determine the relative safety of disclosure before disclosing, rightly fearing stigma and bias. For information professionals, this balance is also tricky. If an individual expresses an interest in LGBTQIA material, they might be disclosing. So those who don't want to disclose or don't feel safe doing so cannot even openly ask for information. Information professionals have a duty to provide open access to information while protecting individual's rights of privacy.

 

References:

Pasek, M., Filip-Crawford, G., & Cook, J. (2017). Identity Concealment and Social Change: Balancing Advocacy Goals Against Individual Needs. Journal Of Social Issues, 73(2), 397-412.

 

Reuters. (2018, May 15). [Masked individuals with rainbow flags]. Retrieved April 1, 2019, from https://www.euronews.com/2018/05/14/which-european-countries-have-the-best-and-worst-lgbt-rights-

 

Staff Photographer/The Inquirer, C. B. (2018, April 13). [Individuals with rainbow flags]. Retrieved April 1, 2019, from https://www.philly.com/philly/news/crime/justice-department-national-crime-victimization-survey-lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender-lgbt-20180413.html

 

UCLAFilmTVArchive, P. R. (Ed.). (2018, December 07). Harvey Milk's "hope" speech (1978). Retrieved April 1, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkEi6zlgtz8