More Gay Plotlines at Degrassi High

If you were a fan of Degrassi Junior High in the 1980s or Degrassi: The Next Generation in the 2000s, you will be interested in knowing that the Toronto high school full of teen drama is going strong on Nickelodeon's subsidiary Teen Nick. The latest generation includes
Good guy with a mysterious past Drew Torres (Luke Bilyik), and his bff Jake (Justin Kelly)

Class clown Zig Novak (Ricardo Hoyos)

Zane (Shannon Kook-Chun, right), a gay athlete, and his bff, artistic intellectual Eli (Munro Chambers, left).

 Dave (Jahmil French), who is cast as a gay Romeo in the school play, and doesn't think he can pull it off, until he gets lessons from Eli.

Flaming Kurt lookalike Tristran (Lyle O'Donohoe), who is teased about his weight, until his brother, hockey player Owen (Daniel Kelly), comes to his defense.

There's as much angst as ever, and the drama is not to everyone's taste, especially after a diet of giggly teencoms.  But since no American program aimed at a juvenile audience has ever yet featured a gay character or even used the word "gay," I'll take what I can get.