Lez Keep It Real

This week’s Come Out & Play post spotlights Marco, a well-known character from the hit show, Degrassi.

I grew up with Degrassi. Well, not the Degrassi of today, but the older version from the 80s.

It was such a classic and ground-breaking show because it portrayed real, every day kids going through real-life problems. There weren’t all these beautiful actors or actresses playing these characters. These characters were actually played by average looking kids, making the show all the more identifiable. Story lines touched on drugs, rape, teen pregnancy, anorexia, gay and lesbian issues, divorce, etc. You name it, they covered it.

The Degrassi of today is much like the 80s version, only geared towards today’s teens. Filmed in Toronto, it leaves no stone unturned when uncovering the latest in adolescent angst. Of course, they air the un-cut version in Canada. Even today, some scenes are considered too racy for the American audience. You gotta hand it to them Canadians, never afraid to talk about the kinds of subjects that some Americans hush upon.

Regardless, it’s a totally awesome show! (That’s my inner 80s child coming through!) There’s an openly gay character on the show named Marco DelRossi. His inner struggle with coming out was made into a two-part episode a couple of years ago. It was brilliantly scripted and just as wonderfully acted. I thought I’d show it as a series, breaking it down in video clips from YouTube. Remember the days when you’d watch a film in class, knowing you wouldn’t have to sit through another lecture for at least a week because that’s how long it would take to get through the film in the amount of time the class allotted. Well, think of this as a Come Out & Play 101 film! It’s broken up into nine parts.

This is Marco’s story part 1:

Make sure to come back next Friday for the second part of Marco’s coming out story! Trust me, it only gets better!

Tune in every Friday for the Come Out & Play series, featuring coming out stories of celebrities, every day people, personal reflections, advice, tid bits and everything else concerning the complicated world of coming out!

Got an interesting coming out story to tell? Contact me and I will feature it in an upcoming post of Come Out & Play.

degrassi, marco delrossi, come out & play, coming out story, canada, gay and lesbian issues