Issues 101

Straight with issues

Joe Phillips starts coming out of the closet to his friends just before transferring from Seattle to Huntington Cove State University. Todd from SUK (Sigma Upsilon Kappa) catches his eye, but he's straight, Todd's only interest in Joe is in recruiting him as a pledge for his fraternity and the genuine fellowship that will follow. Deciding to pledge (under Todd's encouragement), Joe comes in contact with Christian during a sexual hazing incident. Afterward, Christian is chagrined to learn he's to be Joe's assigned big brother (feeling doubly odd since Joe is much bigger than Christian for the little brother/big brother titles, respectively - and with Joe turning out to be more of a personal mentor for Christian instead). Christian is 'straight' but with issues, maintaining a dispirited relationship with his steady girlfriend while very privately, almost unconsciously desiring sex with men. Soon, he and Joe are doin' the nasty with each other, but Christian's signals are mixed - maintaining liaisons with Joe but hooking him up with his gay younger sibling Michael and then getting jealous about it. Mentored on the side by Steve (SUK's only known gay big brother), Joe has at lease someone to confide in. Steve, in turn, persuades Joe, a poli-sci major, to run for student president. Thereafter, it all becomes a campus issue when a rival fraternity shares hidden-camera footage taken of Joe and Christian getting hot and heavy in a back room during a frat party, shaking the foundations of Joe's relationship with Christian, with Michael, and with his frat brothers.