in the closet

Said of a non-heterosexual person who has not revealed their sexuality to others (a process often called "coming out (of the closet)"). After years in the closet, I refuse to hide my homosexuality. I'm a proud gay man! Back when I knew him, he was still in the closet, so I'm really glad to hear he's married to a wonderful man now. I was in the closet for a while, yeah. It felt safer than revealing my true self to people I didn't actually trust.