Dictionary

come out of the broom closet en · VERB

Etymology

Coined by analogy with come out of the closet, with the proverbial hiding place being changed to a broom closet, a jocular reference to stereotype of witches riding brooms.

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) To publicly reveal that one is a Wiccan or some other type of neopagan.
   • 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. 2009, “Junior Crone”, in Arin Murphy-Hiscock, editor, Out of the Broom Closet: 50 True Stories of Witches Who Found and Embraced the Craft, 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." 2006, Denise Zimmerman, Katherine Gleason, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft, unnumbered page:
   • 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. 2005, Douglas E. Cowan, Cyberhenge: Modern Pagans on the Internet, page 36:

Forms