TV: Son Berated Publicly for Being Gay

Tonight's What Would You Do? confronts coming out

They’ve confronted anti-semitism and drunk driving. Tonight, the producers of ABC’s hidden-camera reality show What Would You Do? expose homophobia. In tonight’s episode (9 p.m. EST), patrons at a New Jersey cafe are filmed as a father berates his son for being gay.

Actors hired to play father and son portray the heated coming out conversation as onlookers watch as a parent responds furiously to the news, threatening therapy and eviction from home. The show, which captures so-called “real life” responses to drastic situations in public (like a drunk parent in a bar), is no stranger to gay issues.

Earlier this season, the show filmed a sequence in which bystanders watched (and in some cases, stepped in) as teenagers berated their friend for being gay.

Here’s a clip from tonight’s episode: