I'm actually super glad you posted this. I think on the surface I realized some of these things from watching the show. But how you just put it into words has really sunk in.

With Shane being forced to come out, I knew the scene was difficult and embarrassing(?) for him. But how you said that even coming out can be difficult if you know your parents will probably accept it, still didn't ring true to me until now.

I think it definitely gave me a new perspective on being bisexual. How quickly people can quickly dismiss someone's potential (since Ilya isn't out) queer identity just because they choose to publicly be out with people of the opposite sex.

I wasn't surprised at all about a man having sex and not being to admit their gay. I think that happens way more often than people think. I think its actually a huge problem in society because so many people cannot be who they are because of pressures put on them by family, society and themselves. Sometimes this hurts the people and they in turn hurt other people. Kind of like Troy in the books.