National Coming Out Day

I wasn't aware that today was National Coming Out Day until I saw pamindurham's post about it on the front page of My Left Wing. She notes that the theme of this year's NCOD is "Talk About It". Click to read Pam's diary, which is cross-posted at Pam's House Blend, but here are the questions she poses in her diary:

Questions for the gay folks out there:
Are you out to...
-- your friends?
-- your immediate family?
-- your extended family?
-- any/some/most of your colleagues at work?
-- your boss?
-- your doctors?
-- your neighbors?

I'm happy to say that I can check off all of those today, but it took years of constantly coming out, choosing when "the right time" would be to come out to any of the above groups. It's a seemingly endless process, never easy, almost always awkward (since I'm an introvert to begin with). It's not like something that comes up in casual conversation, nor do you really want it to. But eventually kicking the door open beats life in the closet.
For straight readers:
-- are you "out" as an ally?
-- are you able to talk about gay friends or relatives with others?
-- are you comfortable shooting down homophobes when they spout off during a conversation?