Gayngst: Difference between revisions

* In [[Hero (novel)|Hero]] by [[Perry Moore]], the protagonist has two big secrets: he's gay and he has super powers. Guess which one he angsts about more?

* Averted, subverted, and played straight by various characters throughout the DRAMA! series by Paul Ruditis. The main character, Bryan, insists that his sexual orientation is no big deal. He even [[Lampshade Hanging|hangs a lampshade]] on this:

** It's debatable whether Bryan is really as well-adjusted as he pretends to be. Meanwhile, his [[Camp Gay|extremely flamboyant]] acquaintance, Marq, is out and proud despite having once been the victim of a gay bashing. {{spoiler|Bryan's main love interest spends most of the series deep in the closet, however.}}

* Exploring [[Gayngst]] in-depth and [[Earn Your Happy Ending|eventually overcoming it]] is arguably the whole point of E.M. Forster's ''[[Maurice]]''.

== Live Action TV ==

* While the characters in ''[[The L Word]]'' are largely devoid of Gayngst, this trope was summed up nicely in one episode where the characters attend a Gay Pride parade:

'''Old Woman''': 'Cause most of us have more shame than pride. }}

* Riley from ''[[Degrassi the Next Generation]]'' hit on his best friend, then threatened to beat him up if he ever told anybody. Then he started popping steroids, believing it would turn him straight. He eventually came [[Canada, Eh?|oot]] almost by mistake by signing himself and Zane up for prom couple which was posted [[Everything Is Online|online]].

* Shown on ''[[Cold Case]]'' with the characters of Rose and Jimmy, who have spent more than seventy and forty years respectively in the closet mourning their dead gay lovers.

* [[Straight Gay]] Calvin of ''[[Greek]]'' references this to his friend, explaining why he doesn't want to go to a movie with his crush:

'''Calvin:''' Exactly. }}

* In the episode "In Heat" of ''[[Criminal Minds]]'' the killer is a guy whose father repeatedly tried to beat the gay out of him (he worked as a prison guard, so its implied he was really, really brutal) and essentially drove him insane with self-hatred. He began killing gay tourists and stealing their identities, so he could live their seemingly carefree lives.

** It gets pretty bad, actually. None of the homosexual characters in the story ever get to actually have sex, and it's implied they'll all live lonely, celibate, miserable lives. Somewhat justified by the time period the play and film are set in, but still pretty damned depressing.

* From Lanford Wilson's ''Burn This'':

'''Larry:''' Have you ever been to a gay New Year's Eve Party? [[Bury Your Gays|The suicide rate is higher than all of Scandinavia combined.]] }}

* Parodied in ''Brave Smiles: Another Lesbian Tragedy'' by The Five Lesbian Brothers.

 

== Visual Novels ==

* In ''[[Katawa Shoujo]]'', it is revealed that {{spoiler|Misha}} is gay, and made a [[Love Confession]] to her object of affection, {{spoiler|Shizune,}} who rejected the confession (most likely due to [[Incompatible Orientation]]) but offered continued friendship, causing her a great deal of pain, especially when Hisao begins a relationship with {{spoiler|Shizune}}. {{spoiler|Misha}} also implies that she was bullied for being gay in the past.