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#IamLGBT: Social networks and coming out

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  • Jan Gromadzki
  • Przemyslaw Siemaszko

Abstract

In recent decades, the number of people disclosing their LGBTQ identity has increased substantially. We use newly collected data from two waves of a spontaneous Twitter coming out campaign to study the role of peer effects in coming out. Importantly, we are able to distinguish actual public coming out decisions — costly, explicit disclosures — from mere engagement with the campaign. We combine data on users’ pre-campaign networks with the information on the exact time of coming out actions to construct a time-varying measure of the exposure to peers coming out as LGBTQ. A one standard deviation increase in the exposure increases the hourly probability of coming out by almost 20 percent. We also exploit the non-overlapping network structure of users’ peer groups as an exogenous source of variation, and we confirm the baseline results.

Suggested Citation

  • Jan Gromadzki & Przemyslaw Siemaszko, 2026. "#IamLGBT: Social networks and coming out," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:183:y:2026:i:c:s0014292125002661
    DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2025.105216
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    2. Enzo Brox & Riccardo Di Francesco, 2024. "The Cost of Coming Out," CEIS Research Paper 572, Tor Vergata University, CEIS, revised 16 Apr 2024.
    3. Enzo Brox & Riccardo Di Francesco, 2024. "Behavioral Consequences of Sexual Orientation Disclosure in a Large-Scale Digital Environment," Papers 2403.03649, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2026.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • D85 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Network Formation
    • D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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