GAY NEWS
DURING FRESHMAN orientation at Occidental College in 2011, Nik Dodani joined his classmates on a football field in an exercise illustrating the benefits of privilege. Statements were read aloud, such as,“I can marry the person I love in any state.” If a statement applied to a student, he or she took one step forward.
W hen this particular statement was announced, a 17-year-old Dodani prepared to take a step forward. But before he did, he looked around and saw that several of his peers were unmoved. He reconsidered. He decided to stay put with the other queer kids.
“And then from there, I was just out,” said the 24-year-old actor who was cast this year as Pat, a series regular revival. He also plays Zahid in Netflix’s . “It wasn’t really a question of being in the closet, but then there was the journey of realizing that I’m just really gay,” instead of bisexual or queer. When Dodani eventually declared his gay identity to his best friend, Frankie, in a tearful confession at 19, she laughed in response to his anxieties. It was a given that she—and those who mattered—would love Dodani no matter how he identified.
