It is easier to come out at work!

Work shouldn't be compartmentalized from the rest of your life. Going to work every day and not being able to fully bring yourself to the job has negative ramifications -- the least of which is expending energy every day, worrying about being outed, or that you may "slip up.", according to Kirk Snyder on Gay.com.

The goal is to use all your energy to do the best job possible, so that you will get promoted and make more money. I don't believe you can fully do that in the closet -- hiding is certainly no fun. You don't have to look any further than the headlines last week about John Browne, former CEO of British Petroleum to see the high price of trying to sustain success in the professional closet by creating a web of lies about who one is as a human being.

Life is short, and we spend a lot of that short time at work so we can have a roof over our heads and food on the table -- just like everyone else. To devote so much time to something that prevents us from being ourselves takes a toll on our self-esteem, and on our careers. Make no mistake about it: If you accept that the closet is just fine or even preferable, then you are accepting the lie that you are less valuable than straight people.