Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches Sexuality and Sexual Identity Quotes

After Louis' grandmother's funeral, Louis apologizes to his partner, Prior, for not introducing him to his family. Even though Louis seems to be pretty open about his sexual identity, he still feels the need to hide it around his family.

When Louis first meets Joe, he assumes Joe is gay because of the way he talks. Joe, still deeply in the closet, refuses to admit that he's gay, although later in the play he acknowledges that he's always been interested in men. Joe's conservative upbringing seems to make it hard for him to come to terms with his sexual identity.

Wow, that sounds like the worst sex ever. Joe and Harper do not have a healthy sex life, to say the least. Joe avoids sex like the plague, and even when they do have sex, neither one feels connected to the other.

It's not until later in the play that Joe finally admits to himself and Harper that he's gay. It seems like deep down both he and Harper have known since before they were married that he was gay, though. Both of them have been in denial, and it's been torture.

Roy goes through elaborate justifications to reject the label of "homosexual." To him, being gay means being weak, a person who is taken advantage of. No matter how hard he tries, though, he can't escape the fact that he has sex with men on a regular basis.

Wow, that's a seriously awkward cover-up. Joe seems to be on the verge of admitting that he's gay, but then he thinks better of it. Could he somehow sense that Roy is also gay? Somewhere in his mind, does he think Roy might understand?

It looks like Joe is finally beginning to come to terms with his sexuality. It's interesting that he chooses to first come out to his mom, Hannah, who he knows will not approve. Why do you think he chooses Hannah over Harper or Louis?

When he comes out to his wife, Joe gives us yet another wrenching description of the pains of being in the closet.

This is the first time, as far as we know, that Joe has ever come on to a man. Though he seems to have come to accept the reality of his sexuality, he still can't let go of the values he was raised with. He acknowledges that he's gay, but he still feels like it's a sin.

As the angel comes crashing upon him, Prior draws strength from the fact that he's gay. This can be seen as an inversion of the stereotype that gay men are weak. Here Prior implies that being gay makes him stronger than most people – a life of discrimination has made him "tough."