On Oct. 11, 1988, at the height of the AIDS crisis and a wave of homophobia, people were asked to take a daring step by declaring publicly that they were gay.
Terminally ill victims of AIDS are pushed in wheelchairs as they participate in the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights on Oct. 11, 1987. A year later, organizers marked the anniversary with the first National Coming Out Day. In October 1988, at the height of the AIDS crisis, people around the country received white envelopes in their mailboxes. Vibrant purple and magenta letters spelled out “National Coming Out Day,” with the tag line, “Take your next step.
NCOD was started in 1988 by lesbian Jean O’Leary and gay man Robert Eichberg, on the theory that LGBTQ+ people were so ostracized from society — and AIDS was not a priority — partly because most people didn’t realize their own brothers, friends, uncles and colleagues were gay.It was a matter of life and death.
It was in this charged environment that Eichberg and O’Leary wanted gay people around the country to come out — a risky declaration, but one they felt would be worth it. In that way, the march itself was a coming-out, the spirit of which spread from the streets of D.C. around the country.“All these people were there who hadn’t previously been activists,” said Steven Levine, a drummer who marched that day with the Lesbian and Gay Band Association . “I mean, it was still a time where people weren’t out or harder for people to come to their identity.
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