I'm old enough to remember when the defense against gays was that they'd be subject to blackmail, because of course, back then, no one was out. This was in the 70s, and I recall quite clearly thinking that if someone was openly gay, they couldn't possibly be blackmailed.

So why is it, nearly 50 years later, people are still in the closet?

Not being a gay person, you really do not understand the reality of being gay in this world, even the 21st century.

"So why is it, nearly 50 years later, people are still in the closet?"

Answer: Heterosexism and Homophobia.

Answer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_employment_discrimination_in_the_United_States

The gentleman who was accidentally outed, Ryan Bridge, apparently wasn't that angry about the incident, just embarrassed. Towards the end of the article, he is quoted as saying,

I read the article I posted. Malicious or not, outing someone makes me angry.

But thank you for telling me how I should react.

There was no intention in my response to tell you how to react.

My reaction was different than yours because if the man who was outed wasn't offended, then it's hard for me to tell him how to feel.

In most cases, an outing isn't similar to this story and usually has a malicious intent. I get that and I've seen it too often.

I meant no disrespect to you, Behind.

Just because he wasn't offended or angry (he was upset), it doesn't mean I can't have my own reaction nor am I telling him or you, for that matte, what your reactions should or shouldn't be. Too often, I have seen people outed, including by accident, and in a few cases of accidental outings, it had some very bad repercussions. As someone who was outed against my will on a few occasions, I taking outing very seriously and get angry when it is done without permission, accidentally of otherwise. Had it been malicious, I would be even more angry.