Nationale Kom Uit De Kast Dag

National Coming Out Day (NCOD) is an internationally observed civil awareness day for coming out and discussion about people that are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender (LGBT), etc. It is observed by members of the LGBT communities and their supporters (often referred to as “allies”) on October 11 every year, or October 12 in the United Kingdom.

NCOD was founded in 1988 by Robert Eichberg, a psychologist from New Mexico and Jean O’Leary, an openly-gay political leader from Los Angeles, on behalf of the personal growth workshop The Experience and National Gay Rights Advocates.

The date of October 11 was chosen because it was the anniversary of the 1987 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.

The first headquarters was located in the West Hollywood, California offices of the National Gay Rights Advocates. 18 states participated in the first NCOD, which was covered in the national media. In its second year, the headquarters moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico and participation grew to 21 states. After a media push in 1990, NCOD was observed in all 50 states and seven other countries. Participation continued to grow and in 1990 NCOD merged their efforts with the Human Rights Campaign Fund.