This movie... changed me LOL

hi one time -

Nice post, thanks for sharing. You picked a wonderful movie to watch as your first 'gay film.' I doubt you'll find another one that is as satisfying to you. But I encourage you to check out some others; there are a lot of them that have something you will really enjoy or learn from.

I felt a similar sense of revelation when I watched my first gay film. I was channel-surfing my tv when I first got cable and came across a scene in the middle of the movie 'Latter Days' where the two guys were talking in a laundromat. It turned my life upside down seeing - right there in my living room - two guys falling in love. Those feelings overwhelmed me again when I watched 'Shelter.'

In any case, as someone who has 'kept myself distant from people in general' for more years (I suspect) than you have lived, I hope 'Shelter' encourages you to seek love and know that you will find it if you learn to give it.

"Nothing personal. Your name just happened to come up."

I too just started watching "Gay Interest" films and have come to realize new things about myself. I too am a lot like you. I have been living for 21 years trying to convince myself of false sexuality until finally coming out on New Years...a New Year, A New Me was my motto lol.

Well anyways I was a loner, afraid to let people in and I finally worked up the courage to tell my best friend. It was liberating let me tell you! I still haven't told anyone else but to at least have someone else to talk to about it is an amazing feeling.

BTW, I wouldn't recommend 'Latter Days', it's a terrible movie (quality, acting, story...) I literally just watched 'Shelter' and was so satisfied by it. It's a good "first" to watch. I would recommend 'Beautiful Thing' and 'Get Real' tho. They were two great films with powerful messages and they told them effectively in a quality film. The two films deal with being closeted in High School so hopefully you will be able to relate to them.

Since you know your gay you should come out eventually...not now if you don't want to because High School can be a challenging time. Just know it will feel better in the end and you can start living your REAL life.

Best of luck to you :)

I can SOOO identify with you guys. IT IS hard to open up to people when you're afraid to open up completely to someone about who you really are, especially when you know what will the general reaction will be. I tend to keep to myself most of the time too, but I wish I could sometime find what Shelter showed me. It's really more than finding a partner, its finding a person who you can really admire and look up too that can really learn to appreciate and love you for who you really are, without any smoke and mirrors. Being like we are, it's hard for us to relate to other people sometime, because we know that usually it will come to a point where we can't open up anymore, even maybe to our families and friends, especially if they're prejudiced against people for being 'different'. I think that's something that deep down we all want for ourselves, its human nature.

Always makes me sad to see someone unable/not willing to come out of the closet.

I was like yourself when I was a high-school. (I'm Australian to.)
Stuck in the same place and unwilling to tell anyone about my sexuality, pretending to like Women for the sake of others and what they would think.

However, you get sick of it, it makes you depressed and it hurts, it's literally poison.

When I came out, I did it to my best female friend. (Women are generally more accepting and love the idea.) I also came out as Bi-Sexual first to judge reactions before coming out as gay, made life easier when I look back on it.

Basically if and when you do come out, you will feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off your shoulders. You will feel ecstatic and incredibly happy, and then you will realize... No one actually cares about it.
In-fact people around you will change their views about gays and lesbians completely, sure you might have a few people who will hate you for it... But who cares as long as you are happy? You don't live to please everyone in the world!

Basically do what you feel is right, do what makes you happy and do not worry about what anyone else thinks, they will be the least of your worries in the future.
As for relationships, being gay makes it hard, being in the closet makes it harder still, but if you are determined to make it work and if you can find someone who loves you for who you are, in the end it doesn't matter if they are the same sex.
Anyway, hope things go well for you in the future! And be proud of taking a first step and telling people about yourself, even if it is anonymous.

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I hope you are still checking the responses you have received. I just finished reading Something Like Summer By Jay Bell. I think you should read it. http://www.jaybellbooks.com/something-like-summer. The author has some sample chapters on his site. I liked this book and I think you will enjoy it too.

This is definitely one of the best gay movies around, it leaves you with that warm feeling in your heart. It works cos the characters are so real, you truly believe in Shaun & Zach, I can't describe it but to me they transcend the screen & come alive.

I could recommend a few other gay movies, some are happy ending stories & others are about the journey, as mentioned before Beautiful Thing is a nice one and Get Real too. Not quite strictly gay but My Own Private Idaho is nicely done. Of course Brokeback Mountain is an almost classic & stayed with me like no other film I have ever seen. I watched Latter Days & I just didn't feel it as much as I thought I would, but like everything, it is your own taste.

Well done for taking that first step & always be proud of who you are.

It's funny (Not « Haha; it's funny! » xD), we seems to feel almost the same way. I'm a closeted gay teen who's living in a suburb of Paris. I also have a few closed friends but I rather to keep a distance between people an me genraly but, like you I just want someone (with who I could talk; someone with who I could get really close.)
"Brokeback Mountain" & "Shelter" are the two movies that have moved me the most. "Sommersturm" really touched me alot but in a different way; it was the first gay themed movie I saw and I wasn't zvzn confident with my sexuality. "Queer As Folk" (US) has changed me. I recomend you the two movies & the show that I mentioned + "Get Real!", "Beautiful Thing", "My Own Private Idaho" (Very different but so beautiful.), "Prayers For Bobby" (Sad but also beautiful) & "Harvey Milk".

[Sorry for my english xD & send me a message if you want to talk! x)]