coming out
Enable an AI agent to recognise a coming-out process, record the person's intentions and audience-specific disclosure state, and determine what support or disclosure actions the person authorises.
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
Researched by: Codex
Purpose and description
Enable an AI agent to recognise a coming-out process, record the person's intentions and audience-specific disclosure state, and determine what support or disclosure actions the person authorises.
It can be Help the person compare disclosure, delay and non-disclosure options for a specific audience.; Draft or rehearse a coming-out message using the person's chosen language and requested boundaries.; Map intended recipients, known awareness and permissions for further sharing.; Help identify trusted support and practical contingencies using circumstances the person reports.; Record audience-specific outcomes and revise future disclosure plans at the person's direction.; Apply explicit permission limits to storing, communicating or reusing disclosure information..
Distinguishing features
The communication concerns an identity the person describes as their own; inference from appearance, relationships or behaviour does not establish coming out.
The process has an actual or contemplated audience; private self-recognition alone is distinguishable from disclosure to others.
Disclosure state is audience-specific: being out to friends does not establish being out to family, colleagues or the public.
An intentional disclosure by the person is distinguishable from discovery, coerced admission or unauthorised outing, although these may affect the same process.
A coming-out disclosure need not announce a transition, use a fixed identity label or invite public redistribution.
Scope
+ The person's own description of what they may disclose, including uncertainty or a preference against labels
+ Coming-out intentions and decisions for particular people, groups or settings
+ The distinction between intended disclosure, actual communication and recipient understanding
+ Consent, confidentiality boundaries and control over further disclosure
+ Anticipated constraints, support needs and reported consequences directly connected to coming out
- Determining, verifying or diagnosing a person's sexual orientation or gender identity
- The person's complete identity development or life history
- Medical, legal or social transition processes beyond their connection to a disclosure
- General relationship histories and institutional policies
- Independent management of harassment, discrimination or crisis incidents
- Unrelated public announcements or debuts unless the registry establishes a broader meaning
Characteristics
- Self-described disclosure content
- Person's chosen wording; questioning; label-free description; unspecified; declined to record Keeps the disclosure grounded in the person's account without assigning an identity.
- Audience boundary
- Person or group addressed, setting, and explicitly included or excluded recipients Defines where disclosure is intended to apply and prevents treating it as universal.
- Disclosure stage
- Considering; preparing; deferred; decided against for now; attempted; communicated; follow-up ongoing; unknown Distinguishes planning from communication without making disclosure an obligatory endpoint.
- Recipient awareness
- Unknown; suspected awareness; receipt confirmed; understanding reported; misunderstanding reported Separates what was sent from what an audience is known to understand.
- Disclosure agency
- Self-initiated; supported with consent; pressured; coerced; unauthorised disclosure by another; accidental exposure; unclear Determines whether the event expresses the person's decision and what control may need to be restored.
- Onward-sharing permission
- Not established; prohibited; permitted for named recipients and purposes; permitted publicly; withdrawn for future sharing Prevents permission to hear a disclosure from being treated as permission to repeat it.
- Audience-specific dependencies
- Reported dependence involving housing, income, care, education, immigration support or other resources; none reported; unknown Makes practical constraints visible when the person considers whether, when and how to disclose.
- Desired support
- Listening; wording assistance; rehearsal; accompaniment; practical contingency planning; follow-up; no assistance requested Bounds the agent's role by the person's preferences.
- Reported audience response
- Supportive; mixed; uncertain; dismissive; hostile; no response; other person-described response Supports follow-up while allowing different recipients and moments to have different outcomes.
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 5 bundles · 10 layers · 10 findings · 21 questions.
Self-defined disclosure What the person considers coming out to mean in this instance and what they want to communicate.
The model must recognise the act without assigning an identity or requiring a settled label.
Identity language
The person's own terms and the boundaries of their intended disclosure.
Person-authored meaning
Record the meaning and wording the person chooses, including questioning, ambiguity or a decision not to record details.
- What, if anything, does the person want this audience to know about their identity? definition
- Which terms come directly from the person, and which proposed terms have they not endorsed? provenance
Disclosure purpose
The person's intended significance of telling this audience.
Desired recognition
Record whether the person seeks acknowledgement, different forms of address, relational openness, support or another outcome, without assuming a request for change.
- What does the person hope will become possible or understood by telling this audience? definition
- What assumptions, questions or changes does the person explicitly want the disclosure not to invite? boundary
Audience and visibility Where the person intends to be known and what is actually known about recipient awareness.
Coming out cannot be represented accurately by a single global out-or-not-out status.
Recipient boundaries
The people and settings included in a disclosure decision.
Selective openness
Record intended recipients and exclusions, including situations where social groups overlap.
- To whom does the person intend to come out, and who is outside that decision? boundary
- Which shared groups, accounts or relationships could carry the disclosure beyond those recipients? boundary
Awareness evidence
The basis for claims that a recipient has received or understood the disclosure.
Known versus assumed awareness
Keep intentional telling, suspected awareness, acknowledgement and misunderstanding distinct for each audience.
- What evidence supports the recorded awareness state for this recipient? provenance
- Has the recipient acknowledged the intended meaning, or is their understanding still unknown? measurement
Agency and confidentiality The person's control over whether disclosure occurs and how information may subsequently be handled.
A model must distinguish coming out by choice from outing and must not convert disclosure into unrestricted permission.
Choice and pressure
The person's account of whether the timing, wording and audience are freely chosen.
Control of the act
Record initiation, pressure and opportunities to pause, separating the person's disclosure decision from exposure caused by others.
- Who initiated or carried out the disclosure, and how does the person describe their freedom to choose? provenance
- Does the person want to proceed, change the plan, pause or avoid further disclosure? action
Information permissions
Separate permission to receive information from permission to retain, repeat or publish it.
Bounded disclosure authority
Record explicit permissions and confidentiality requests, including limits on an agent's own records and actions.
- What may this agent retain or communicate, to whom, and for what purpose? action
- What onward-sharing limits has the person requested, and have recipients agreed to them? boundary
- If permission changes, which future uses can be stopped and which prior disclosures cannot be recalled? action
Disclosure conditions and preparation The person's assessment of circumstances and the practical arrangements for a possible disclosure.
The same disclosure can have different implications depending on audience power, dependence, privacy and available support.
Dependencies and support
Reported constraints and resources relevant to deciding whether or when to come out.
Practical room to choose
Record dependencies, anticipated responses and available support without treating predictions as observed outcomes.
- What consequences does the person anticipate, and what experiences or statements inform those expectations? provenance
- What practical dependencies or support options matter to their decision about this audience? boundary
Message and setting
The chosen form, timing and interpersonal conditions of the disclosure.
Person-approved plan
Record wording, medium, privacy needs, support people and ways to end or postpone the exchange.
- What wording, medium and setting does the person prefer for this disclosure? action
- What arrangements would let them pause, leave or obtain support if the exchange becomes unwanted? action
Disclosure course and aftermath What happened during the disclosure, how recipients responded and what the person wants next.
Communication, recognition and subsequent treatment are separate outcomes, and coming out may recur as audiences or self-descriptions change.
Communication and response
The actual exchange and its reported immediate consequences.
Audience-specific outcome
Record what was communicated, reported recipient responses and deviations from the intended audience or message.
- What was actually communicated, to whom, and how does that differ from the plan? measurement
- Which responses were observed or reported, by whom, and what remains unknown? provenance
Follow-up and revision
The person's interpretation of the outcome and decisions about subsequent disclosure or support.
Person-directed next step
Record desired follow-up, revised boundaries and any later clarification without imposing acceptance, public openness or further disclosure as completion criteria.
- How does the person assess the outcome, and what support or follow-up do they want now? action
- Does a later disclosure clarify the earlier message, revise the person's self-description or address a new audience? boundary
What the second pass must settle
- Does the registry intend coming out specifically in LGBTQ+ contexts, or does it include disclosure of other previously concealed identities or statuses?
- Should private self-recognition be represented as part of coming out, or linked to a neighbouring identity-development model?
- Should coerced disclosure, accidental exposure and outing be separate registered acts linked to this process, and what boundaries should distinguish them?
- How should the model accommodate cultural and linguistic contexts where disclosure is indirect, relational or not described using identity labels?
- What minimum information should an agent retain to support audience-specific decisions without creating an unnecessarily sensitive record of identity and disclosure?