I was reading this, and a few excerpts struck me:

Act 1 Scene IV: A bathroom.

LOUIS: Three of your colleagues have preceded you to this baleful sight and you're the first one to ask. The others just opened the door, saw me, and fled. I hope they had to pee real bad.
JOE: They just didn't want to intrude.
LOUIS: Hah. Reaganite heartless macho asshole lawyers.
JOE: Oh, that's unfair.
LOUIS: What is? Heartless? Macho? Reaganite? Lawyer?
JOE: I voted for Reagan.
LOUIS: You did?
JOE: Twice.
LOUIS: Twice? Well, oh boy. A Gay Republican.
JOE: Excuse me?
LOUIS: Nothing.
JOE: I'm not... Forget it.
LOUIS: Republican? Not Republican? Or...
JOE: What?
LOUIS: What?
JOE: Not gay. I'm not gay.
LOUIS: Oh. Sorry. It's just...
JOE: Yes?
LOUIS: Well, sometimes you can tell from the way a person sounds that... I mean, you sound like a...
JOE: No I don't. Like what?
LOUIS: Like a Republican.

(Little pause. JOE knows he's being teased; LOUIS knows he knows. JOE decides to be a little brave.)

JOE (Making sure no one else is around): Do I? Sound like a...?
LOUIS: What? Like a...? Republican, or...? Do I?
JOE: Do you what?
LOUIS: Sound like a...?
JOE: Like a...? I'm confused.
LOUIS: Yes. My name is Louis. But all my friends call me Louise. I work in Word Processing. Thanks for the toilet paper.

(LOUIS offers Joe his hand, JOE reaches, LOUIS feints and pecks JOE on the cheek, then exits.)

--------

Act 1 Scene VII

HARPER: Joe will be so angry. I promised him. No more pills.
PRIOR: These pills you keep alluding to?
HARPER: Valium. I take Valium. Lots of Valium.
PRIOR: And you're dancing as fast as you can.
HARPER: I'm not addicted. I don't believe in addiction, and I never... Well, I never drink. And I never take drugs.
PRIOR: Well, smell you, Nancy Drew.
HARPER: Except Valium.
PRIOR: Except Valium; in wee fistfuls.

(Cinders' favorite part:)

HARPER: It's terrible. Mormons aren't supposed to be addicted to anything. I'm a Mormon.
PRIOR: I'm a homosexual.
HARPER: Oh! In my church we don't believe in homosexuals.
PRIOR: In my church we don't believe in Mormons.

...

PRIOR: How on earth did you know...
HARPER: Oh, that happens. This is the very threshold of revelation sometimes. You can see things... How sick you are. Do you see anything about me?
PRIOR: Yes.
HARPER: What?
PRIOR: You are amazingly unhappy.
HARPER: Big deal. You meet a Valium addict and you figure out she's unhappy. That doesn't count. Of course I... Something else. Something surprising.
PRIOR: Something surprising.
HARPER: Yes.
PRIOR: Your husband's a homo.
HARPER: Oh, ridiculous. (pause, then very quietly) Really?
PRIOR: (Shrugs) Threshold of Revelation.
HARPER: Well, I don't like your revelations. I don't think you intuit well at all. Joe's a very normal man, he... Oh God. Oh God. He... Do homos take, like, lots of long walks?
PRIOR: Yes. We do. In stretch pants with lavender coifs. I just looked at you, and there was...
HARPER: A sort of blue streak of recognition.
PRIOR: Yes.
HARPER: Like you knew me incredibly well.
PRIOR: Yes.
HARPER: Yes. I have to go now, get back, something just... fell apart. Oh God, I feel so sad...
PRIOR: I... I'm sorry. I usually say, "Fuck the truth," but mostly, the truth fucks you.
HARPER: I see something else about you...
PRIOR: Oh?
HARPER: Deep inside you, there's a part of you, the most inner part, entirely free of disease. I can see that.
PRIOR: Is that... That isn't true.
HARPER: Threshold of revelation. Home.

(She vanishes)

PRIOR: People come and go so quickly here... I don't think there's any uninfected part of me. My heart is pumping polluted blood. I feel dirty.


I love this play.

So the relevance to debate: Gay/Lesbian Studies aka Queer Studies: Do gays have an accurate depiction in art? We think of campy plays (Rocky Horror) and stereotypes, but in actuality do you think that this is just a stereotype we use to help us feel more comfortable around gays?

For the record, Louis and Prior are lovers and Harper and Joe are married. (Pst: Joe is gay).