DanielSturman:

I get it that even under the best of circumstances, it is not easy for a teenage boy (or girl) to come out to anyone as to their true sexual orientation. ?Even to the most open-minded parents. ? ?(What teenager wants to talk to their parents about anything??relating to sex?)

However, you’re playing the situation for dramatic effect. ?And the warp and woof of drama is tension, conflict, suspense, amped up, magnified, intensified. ?And stakes, the possibility of a nightmare scenario for the protagonist, the worst possible outcome.

Earlier in the week, I spent a day among the Amish in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. ?The Amish are a deeply religious, very conservative, tightly knit community where young men are expected to start courting, marry, and begin having kids while they still in their teens. ?If your character was faced with that predicament in that social context, ?the tension, the conflict, the stakes would be about as high as they can possibly be.

The tension and stakes would be so high I don’t see how it could be played for comedy. ? ?But that’s how you want to play out your scenario. Okay, but even in comedy, there has to be real conflict, real stakes for your character.

So what conflict will arise, what’s the worst thing that can happen to him — or that he fears will happen — if they find out? ?What is he worried about — and by extension, what is the audience supposed to be worried about? ?What is the nature of his dramatic problem?

fwiw.