History of National Coming Out Day: 1994: Star Power
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| Actors, straight allies and parents of Ben Stiller, Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller, flank then NCOP Manager Wes Combs at the NYC Gay and Lesbian Business Expo in 1994. |
Wes Combs was named HRCF's project director for National Coming Out Day, and one of his first — and smartest — innovations was to add celebrities to the program. Actress Amanda Bearse of Fox-TV's Married… With Children agreed to be chairperson for National Coming Out Day 1994. At the time, Bearse was the only nationally known actress who was open about her lesbianism, and her participation in community events across the country drew a new and larger audience to the day. She appeared in a public service announcement with the message: "I'm not a straight woman but I play one on TV. And that's where acting belongs — on television or in the movies. Not in real life. That's why I stopped acting and came out."
Under Executive Director Elizabeth Birch, HRC grew National Coming Out Day into a year-round program that promotes honesty and openness about being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender on campus, in the workplace and at home. HRC named this new effort the National Coming Out Project, with yearlong activities that culminate in the observation of National Coming Out Day every Oct. 11.
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| Then NCOP Manager Wes Combs, actor Amanda Bearse and Albert Williams, partner of late actor Dick Sargent, at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Community Center celebrating National Coming Out Day |