Kenji Yoshino

Yes, I'm sure this will resonate with most readers, right, who read a book and it so aptly describes something in their own life that they realize that they will never be able to see the world in the same way again. And that book for me was Irving Goffman's book, Stigma, Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity.

Yes, I'm sure this will resonate with most readers, right, who read a book and it so aptly describes something in their own life that they realize that they will never be able to see the world in the same way again. And that book for me was Irving Goffman's book, Stigma, Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity.

So Irving Goffman is a very eminent sociologist, and one of the things that he was smartest about was the presentation of the self.

So Irving Goffman is a very eminent sociologist, and one of the things that he was smartest about was the presentation of the self.

So Irving Goffman is a very eminent sociologist, and one of the things that he was smartest about was the presentation of the self.

So in this book about stigma, he said that individuals who are quite open about the fact that they belong to a stigmatized group, open because they either cannot or will not hide that fact, nonetheless expend an enormous amount of energy to downplay that identity so that others around them can have greater comfort. And he called this phenomenon coverings.

So in this book about stigma, he said that individuals who are quite open about the fact that they belong to a stigmatized group, open because they either cannot or will not hide that fact, nonetheless expend an enormous amount of energy to downplay that identity so that others around them can have greater comfort. And he called this phenomenon coverings.

So in this book about stigma, he said that individuals who are quite open about the fact that they belong to a stigmatized group, open because they either cannot or will not hide that fact, nonetheless expend an enormous amount of energy to downplay that identity so that others around them can have greater comfort. And he called this phenomenon coverings.

The reason that this was so transformative for me was that I understood to my very bones what I was being asked to do, but I didn't have a word for it. I had a word for, yes, change your identity, that was conversion. I had a word for you can have the identity, but hide it from everybody. That was passing.

The reason that this was so transformative for me was that I understood to my very bones what I was being asked to do, but I didn't have a word for it. I had a word for, yes, change your identity, that was conversion. I had a word for you can have the identity, but hide it from everybody. That was passing.

The reason that this was so transformative for me was that I understood to my very bones what I was being asked to do, but I didn't have a word for it. I had a word for, yes, change your identity, that was conversion. I had a word for you can have the identity, but hide it from everybody. That was passing.

But I did not have the word for you can be gay and say that you're gay, but make sure that you soften it, mute it, edit it, downplay it so that other people around you can feel more comfortable. So this I'm out of the closet, but I'm still being asked to assimilate in these ways was what I was really struggling with. And I couldn't name it.

But I did not have the word for you can be gay and say that you're gay, but make sure that you soften it, mute it, edit it, downplay it so that other people around you can feel more comfortable. So this I'm out of the closet, but I'm still being asked to assimilate in these ways was what I was really struggling with. And I couldn't name it.

But I did not have the word for you can be gay and say that you're gay, but make sure that you soften it, mute it, edit it, downplay it so that other people around you can feel more comfortable. So this I'm out of the closet, but I'm still being asked to assimilate in these ways was what I was really struggling with. And I couldn't name it.

And what Irving Goffman did, and it's really like a throwaway line. I think it's two pages in his book where he talks about this. But he just gave me a word that changed my life because I thought this is what I was being asked to do when that wonderful colleague of mine said to me, be a homosexual professional rather than a professional homosexual.

And what Irving Goffman did, and it's really like a throwaway line. I think it's two pages in his book where he talks about this. But he just gave me a word that changed my life because I thought this is what I was being asked to do when that wonderful colleague of mine said to me, be a homosexual professional rather than a professional homosexual.

And what Irving Goffman did, and it's really like a throwaway line. I think it's two pages in his book where he talks about this. But he just gave me a word that changed my life because I thought this is what I was being asked to do when that wonderful colleague of mine said to me, be a homosexual professional rather than a professional homosexual.

Because that colleague was not saying don't be gay or don't say that you're gay. He was saying it's fine for you to be gay and say that you're gay, but don't flaunt it. And covering was what he was asking me to do. So I knew that I would forevermore be attuned to these covering demands as a kind of assimilation I would be asked to engage in on the other side of the closet door.

Because that colleague was not saying don't be gay or don't say that you're gay. He was saying it's fine for you to be gay and say that you're gay, but don't flaunt it. And covering was what he was asking me to do. So I knew that I would forevermore be attuned to these covering demands as a kind of assimilation I would be asked to engage in on the other side of the closet door.

Because that colleague was not saying don't be gay or don't say that you're gay. He was saying it's fine for you to be gay and say that you're gay, but don't flaunt it. And covering was what he was asking me to do. So I knew that I would forevermore be attuned to these covering demands as a kind of assimilation I would be asked to engage in on the other side of the closet door.