After one and a half seasons of complete agony, fans of Degrassi finally witnessed the almost impossible. Riley finally took the first step to revealing that he was gay to the school by bidding on his summer beau Zane.
Riley’s character was introduced onto Degrassi: The Next Generation almost 2 seasons ago as the new QB1 for the football team. He was tall, handsome… and single. What nobody knew was that he was in the closet about his sexuality. He struggled a lot coming to terms with it. He used his anger to mask the reality that he was scared about what people thought about him. It even cost him his job as a lifeguard when he hit his supervisor who also just happened to be gay…and knew that Riley was gay. Riley was determined to be “normal” and even considered enrolling in a rehabilitation program that he thought would help “cure” him. Eventually Riley came to terms with who he is, but hasn’t reached the comfort level to come out to anyone.
Enter Zane. A transfer student, Zane is the mysterious new guy who caught everyone’s attention…including Riley’s. Openly gay, Zane immediately was able to get involved with Degrassi’s LGBT club to raise awareness about being gay and all the issues that come along with it. Zane and Riley got to know each other towards the end of the school year and took their relationship full blown into the summer. Once school started, Riley told Zane he needed a break until football season was over. Zane who was willing to give him some space, decided to tryout for the football team so he and Riley could at least be around each other. This caused a few problems for Riley. Drew, another transfer student and QB1 at his previous school, found out about Riley and used it as blackmail against Riley so that he could have the QB1 spot. The blackmail lead to the veteran players hazing Drew and Riley was suspended for 4 games.
Things got worse as other players on the team teased Zane about being gay. This lead to Riley lashing out in anger in Zane’s defense, but it only pushed Riley and Zane farther apart. With a little help from his cheerleader friend Anya, who just happened to be organizing the Bachelor Auction, Riley decided to step out as best he could to show Zane that he cared and bid a whopping $50. This showed that the sweet and caring Riley we all knew existed was there. Hopefully Riley will be able to step out some more and be honest about his sexuality.
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