G.B.F.
Tanner Daniels (Michael J. Willett) and Brent Van Camp (Paul Iacono) are two closeted teenage high school students. Their school, North Gateway High in suburban New Jersey, is dominated by three feuding cliques respectively led by the three most popular girls in school: Fawcett Brooks (Sasha Pieterse), Caprice Winters (Xosha Roquemore), and 'Shley Osgood (Andrea Bowen). Brent hatches a plan to out himself at prom, which will make him the most popular boy at school since the latest trend in teen girl magazines is a G.B.F. – a gay best friend.
Meanwhile, Soledad Braunstein (Joanna "JoJo" Levesque) is told by teacher Ms. Hoegel (Natasha Lyonne) that their Gay-Straight Alliance cannot exist if there is not a gay student in the club. Fawcett helps Soledad track down any potential gay students in the school by downloading a hook-up app for gay men. Brent previously persuaded Tanner to download the app on his phone and Soledad and her friends track Tanner down, forcing him to come out in front of the whole school. This attracts the attention of Fawcett, 'Shley, and Caprice, who all believe having a G.B.F. will secure their bid for prom queen.
Angry, Tanner confronts Brent for not also coming out and harshly outs Brent in front of his overbearing mother Mrs. van Camp (Megan Mullally) as revenge. Tanner quickly regrets it but Brent is no longer speaking to him and he reluctantly agrees to be friends with Fawcett, Caprice, and 'Shley, as the three girls protect him from homophobic bullying led by Fawcett's ex-boyfriend Hamilton (Brock Harris). However, the girls express their disappointment that Tanner is not like the stereotypical gay men they have seen on TV and make him over to their liking. Brent is annoyed at all the attention Tanner is getting, especially since Tanner has become nominated for Prom King. Likewise, 'Shley's conservative best friend McKenzie Pryce (Evanna Lynch) tries to persuade 'Shley that homosexuality is sinful.
At a party, Caprice sets Tanner up with Christian, a gay friend of hers, who is willing to be his prom date, but McKenzie refuses to allow Tanner to buy a couple's prom ticket, insisting they are only for male and female couples. Tanner agrees to join Soledad's GSA since she is the only one willing to help him fight the school policy and chastizes Fawcett, 'Shley, and Caprice for only caring about him when it benefits them. Chagrined, Fawcett also joins the GSA, but Ms. Hoegel quickly sees that Tanner is being used by the girls as a prize. Fawcett offers to hold an alternate prom, which pleases Tanner but enrages Caprice, who is annoyed that Tanner is endorsing Fawcett. Brent, believing that he is Tanner's prom date, is disappointed to learn that Tanner is going with Christian. He teams up with Caprice who plans on being queen of the school endorsed prom and offers to let him be her king. Meanwhile, Tanner and Brent's old friend group, Sophie (Molly Tarlov), and Glenn (Derek Mio), confront them and reveals how they are being used as tools, and Tanner asks Fawcett if this is true. Fawcett admits that she was but she now does consider him her real friend. She also tells Tanner she created the second prom to win since most of the school dislikes her. Tanner agrees to help her win prom queen after hearing this.
Meanwhile, Brent manages the publicity department for the school-sanctioned prom, and uses explicitly anti-gay posters. The principal cancels the school prom due to the ensuing public backlash and supports the alternate prom. Tanner and Fawcett win prom king and queen and Tanner makes a speech at the dance, saying that he is tired of being seen as an object or a symbol and apologizes to his true friends for dumping them. Tanner dances with Brent and they make up, although they decide to stay friends instead of being romantically involved and risk a friendship that is already sturdy in its own right.
queer