Something that has always bothered me about Scott Hunter's story is that RR frames Scott as either fully in the closet or fully out.
Something that RR does with a lot of the MCs, including Scott, is make them totally alone outside of hockey. Scott is orphaned before he figures out that he's gay, and then he's sent away from everyone he knows to a private boarding school. He supposedly has an aunt, but he never talks about visiting her or her coming to any of his games. He has no friends that aren't coworkers.
When people come out as gay, they usually go through the following stages:
Self
Close Friends
Broader Friend Groups
Family
Work/School
Everyone else
Since Scott is so alone, he has
Self
Close Friends
Broader Friend Groups
Family
Work/School
Everyone else
At the start of GC, Scott's already done step 1, and then he would need to skip steps 2-4 and go straight to step 5 when coming out. That's a huge leap for anyone to take. It makes sense that he is reluctant to come out in a sport that where gay slurs are being thrown around every game.
When Scott and Kip start dating, Scott doesn't want anyone to know. RR writes this as Kip needing to lie to everyone about where he's at constantly and that he's single. Why couldn't Kip just tell people that he's seeing a closeted local celebrity who doesn't want to publicize his relationship? GC is set in NYC, there are tons of semi-famous people living there. Why couldn't Scott and Kip agree to Scott meeting Kip's immediate family and close friends? Scott can still be closeted professionally and be out in a non-hockey social circle. It doesn't have to be all or nothing.
