Southern boy latest gay on "The Real World"

From Norm (New York) to Pedro (San Francisco) to Dan (Miami) to Danny (New Orleans), gay men (and lesbians) have almost always been a part of the cast of each season of MTV's "The Real World." The new season debuts on Nov. 22 and takes place in Denver, Colo. The gay cast member is Davis, a 23-year-old from Marietta, Ga.

The blond-haired Davis spoke with Advocate.com writer Daniel Blau about his stint on the reality show, now in its 18th season. He sounds like one of those people Lance Bass describes as a SAG (Straight Acting Gay): "I'm a real straight-acting kind of gay guy. I'm in a fraternity, I've barely been to any gay bars. I hardly even went when I was in Denver. Most of my friends, if not all of them, are straight. I have a few gay friends. And so, for me, I thought maybe I was being cast for being more like the "straight gay guy." They hadn't really cast a ton of those before. But I didn't want to have to come in and, like, come out immediately to everyone. 'Cause I felt like the guys would immediately label me as "the gay character." And I just came out a year ago."
Once all the castmates found out he is gay, the reactions were predictably mixed: "The girls had no issues. In fact, one of them was craving a gay character. Some of the guys had issues with it, homophobic issues. I mean, that¹s probably why they were chosen. I'm from a really strong Christian family, so we had a lot of talks about, like, "Is this a choice?" And, what are my views about, you know, if you condemn drinking in the Bible, how is that any different from condemning being gay in the Bible, when my Christian friends are drinking, you know? So it was things like that. "

Davis only came out a little over a year ago to some of his friends but after getting picked for the show, he made a list of about 25 people to tell so they wouldn't hear it somehwere else. Still, there are many people who will find out by watching the show.

"I got really great feedback from my Christian friends. The next thing you know, it was like, Wow, my Christian friends aren¹t really responding the same way I thought they would. They were like, ³I love you, Davis. This is an issue I¹m starting to change my mind about, and maybe I don¹t think that it¹s a choice. Maybe I don¹t think it¹s condemnable to hell,² and all these sort of things that I was afraid I would be getting when I was in high school. My brother had known for a couple years; he¹d overheard me and my mom fighting about it, and that¹s how he found out. And I told my mom and dad when I was in early high school, late middle school."

He's not too concerned about what people in his hometown will think and hopes to become an example for young kids strugglinjg to come out: "I have gotten to the point in my life where I just want to be happy. I want to be in a relationship with a guy because that makes me happy, and I want to just be proud of who I am and not ashamed of anything anymore. I don't really care what my friends from my school who may not be my friends anymore think...
I just think, once you come to terms with your sexuality, once you come out of the closet, it's an amazing experience. It's like a new day for you. This is day one for me for the rest of my life. I would love to be able to talk to people about that experience and make them feel more confident."
Click HERE to read the interview in its entirety.