The term outing, from the English adverb "Out" ("out"), has been supported (and above all practiced in practice) in the United States, starting around 1990, as a political weapon of defense against the hypocrisy of conservative gays who, to ward off suspicions of homosexuality, were particularly fanatical in their deprecation and even public persecution of homosexuality.
In Italy, outing is often confused with the expression coming out ("to come out"), which instead indicates the act of someone who voluntarily – and therefore not forcedly – declares that they are homosexual.
The Italian LGBT movement has never used outings to combat hypocrisy, primarily for legal reasons, as under the law they could constitute defamation. The judge only considers whether the statement is defamatory in and of itself, regardless of whether it is true or not, unless the plaintiff allows "broad scope of proof," as in this case.
