When I was in the Air Force I joined American Atheists while I was stationed in Germany. Used to get some very funny looks when I picked up my mail. One day I saw a news article about a seaman in the Navy that had just gone through a court case to get ATHEIST on his dog tags. (At the time the best they could do was "No Preference"...well, I damned sure DID have a preference!) As soon as I read about the case being decided in his favor I hightailed it over to the personnel office and demanded new tags. After some back-and-forth, including calling the Pentagon, I got my new tags. As far as I know I was the first person in the Air Force to be able to have the word ATHEIST on my dog tags.
When I got back stateside I was assigned to NSA at Fort Meade, MD, between DC and Baltimore. American Atheists had their annual convention in DC while I was there, so I attended. Before every session that'd announce that if anyone was uncomfortable being photographed, they should go to a certain section of seating. You would see some people cover their faces or turn away when a camera was seen. Many people could have jeopardized their careers by being there. One very active member worked for the Library of Congress, and others had varying government jobs. When we had an event at the Jefferson Memorial and at Arlington National Cemetery there were several 'men in black' types photographing and filming (with shoulder-held 16mm movie cameras) the attendees.
So, yeah, coming out and openly were, and still are, valid terms to use.
= new reply since forum marked as read
