Citations:come out of the broom closet

English citations of come out of the broom closet

Verb: "to publicly reveal that one is a Wiccan or some other type of neopagan"

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• 1998, Gary Cantrell, Out of the Broom Closet?: A Guide to Revealing Your Practice of Witchcraft to Others, page 78:

  We jointly made the decision that I would "come out of the broom closet" in the spring of 1997. We decided that we would not flaunt my Paganism, but that I would begin by starting to wear my pentacle ring all the time, not just during ritual, and we would answer the questions of friends and family if and when they came up.

• 2003, Christopher Penczak, Gay Witchcraft: Empowering the Tribe, page 2:

  She was a wonderful friend of the family, and had recently “come out of the broom closet” to me about her faith.

• 2004, Kerr Cuhulain, Witch Hunts: Out of the Broom Closet, page vii:

  They would like to "come out of the broom closet", but don't know how to go about it.

• 2005, Douglas E. Cowan, Cyberhenge: Modern Pagans on the Internet, page 36:

  Second, despite constitutional guarantees of religions freedom and practice, and despite the rhetoric of tolerance with which religion in American society is cloaked, "coming out of the broom closet" and declaring oneself Wiccan or Witch remains a very risky act for many people, precisely because of the different cultures in which they reside.

• 2006, Denise Zimmerman & Katherine Gleason, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft, unnumbered page:

  In 1986, a federal appeals court ruled that Wicca is a legal religion. That means that the practice of Wicca is protected by the U.S. Constitution. Ever since the ruling, more and more Wiccans have "come out of the broom closet."

• 2009, "Junior Crone", Out of the Broom Closet: 50 True Stories of Witches Who Found and Embraced the Craft (ed. Arin Murphy-Hiscock), unnumbered page:

  I cannot claim that I ever came out of the broom closet, because I didn't even know that I had the option of hiding in said closet when I began to self-identify as a Pagan at the age of seventeen.

• 2010, Gwinevere, quoted in Where to Park Your Broomstick: A Teen's Guide to Witchcraft, page 218:

  So if you do choose to come out of the broom closet, your job starts by explaining what Wiccans do and why we do it!

• 2012, Lisa M. Fisher, A Witch's Journey: Greyehawke's Story, page 19:

  There are very few Pagans in my area who have “come out of the broom closet” so to speak.

• 2012, Cat Treadwell, A Druid's Tale, unnumbered page:

  A friend of mine asked me to discuss 'how to be a Witch in modern times', given the stigma still attached to the label and, to be frank, I would be surprised if the majority of those reading have not experienced a similar reaction at some point in their training, as they come 'out of the broom closet'.

Verb: "to go from a strictly occult practice to a mainstream one"

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ME «	15th c.	16th c.	17th c.	18th c.	19th c.	20th c.	21st c.

• 2005, Janet Berres, Tarot Kit for Beginners, page 1:

  Over the last thirty years, starting at the time I first got interested in reading the cards, all things occult (hidden) and metaphysical (beyond the physical) have become popular and have come “out of the broom closet,” so to speak.