Coming Out Day 2024

Disclaimer: this is an updated version of the post published last year.

National Coming Out Day is celebrated every year on October 11, as a continuation of the March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights that took place on this date in 1987. On this occasion, LGBTQIA+ people are encouraged to voluntarily and publicly announce their sexual orientation and/or gender identity, in order to shed the heterosexual and cisgender identities they may have been assigned by default. Unfortunately, even today, not everyone feels safe enough to come out and live authentically.

This year, ESSEC signed the charte d'engagement by L'Autre Cercle, to further the inclusion of LGBT+ people. The charter is accompanied by an action plan and objectives to be achieved over the next 3 years. Among these actions, ESSEC students can follow an e-learning module: "Recognizing and acting on LGBTphobia at work" created by SOS Homophobie.

To find out more about these diverse identities and the discrimination faced by LGBTQIA+ people, we've selected a few resources to add to our Highlight on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion.

Press articles

• Saguy, Abigail C. “The History of ‘coming out,’ from Secret Gay Code to Popular Political Protest.” The Conversation, February 10, 2020. 

• “Coming out at Work: Senior Executives Share Their Stories.” Financial Times, June 26, 2023, 14.
• Habchi, Malik. “comment devenir une entreprise LGBT friendly.” L’Usine Nouvelle 3719, no. 3719 (June 9, 2023): 72,73.
• Landrieu, Valérie. “Les territoires manquent de role models LGBT.” Les Echos 23848, no. 23848 (December 6, 2022): 26.
• Tanneau, Lucie. “Inclusion : En 2022, la LGBTphobie existe encore en entreprise.” Entreprise et Carrières 1595, no. 1595 (October 17, 2022): 10.
• Hamladji, Samir. “Inclusion LGBT+ au travail : l'inquiétude demeure.” Les Echos, October 2, 2024.

ESSEC Knowledge

• Takagi, Junko. "I’m coming out! Or not: how young lgbtq professionals navigate the workforce." ESSEC Knowledge, February, 15, 2023. Accessed October 10, 2023. 
• Chevillon, Guillaume. “The algorithmic frontier for LGBTQI+ rights.” ESSEC Knowledge, February 21, 2023. Accessed October 10, 2023. 
• Conti, Raffaele. “How do antidiscrimination employment policies impact entrepreneurship?” ESSEC Knowledge, November 15, 2023. Accessed October 10, 2023. 
• Strauss, Karoline. “Death by a Thousand Paper Cuts: How Subtle Workplace Discrimination Can Undermine Our Sense of Self,” October 9, 2023. 

Comic books and novels

• Font, Élodie. Coming in. Paris: Arte Editions Payot, 2021.
• Biondi, Flavia. Les générations. Grenoble: Glénat, 2020.
• Cruse, Howard. Stuck Rubber Baby. New York: First Second, 2002.
• McQuiston, Casey. Red, White & Royal Blue. London: Macmillan, 2022.

Books

• Schadendorf, Jens. GaYme Changer : How the LGBT+ Community and Their Allies Are Changing the Global Economy. London, UK: ‎ Lid Publishing, 2021.
• Bereni, Laure. Introduction aux études sur le genre. 3e édition entièrement revue de la référence francophone sur le genre. Louvain-La-Neuve (Belgique): De Boeck supérieur, 2020.
• Alison, Mika. Vivre sa transidentité à l’école : parcours et point de vue d’une transeignante. Joinville-le-Pont (Val-de-Marne): Double ponctuation, 2022.

Podcast

• Coming out d'Élise Goldfarb et Julia Layani
• 'Queer Career' chronicles the history of LGBTQ workers in the U.S. on NPR