40 Years of Coming Out, Being Out, and Staying Out as a Gay Man

Making and keeping a promise to myself.

Photo courtesy of author

By Phil Bohlender

When I started my first corporate job on January 11, 1982, I was on probation for the first 16 weeks. I was told that I could be terminated for any reason during this timeframe, so it still stuns me to think that I decided to come out as a gay man…