The premise is simple: outwit, outplay, and outlast, but America’s most famous reality show delivers much more than a simple strategy and adventure game. Entering its 11th season this fall, Survivor is well known for placing strange casts of conflicting characters into remote settings, then providing twists and turns worthy of a Laurie R. King novel.But this season, set in the Guatemalan rainforest, may provide the most intriguing juxtaposition yet: a gay Mormon cast member.
Rafe Judkins, a native of Salt Lake City, Utah, grew up in a large, eclectic Mormon family. He spent his early years traveling around the United States in a seventeen-passenger van, and it was this experience that he credits with getting him interested in travel and nature. His family eventually settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he attended an esteemed prep school, and upon graduation he was selected as the senior class member “Most Likely To Be On Survivor”. Four years later, that prediction has come true.
Rafe is being promoted by CBS as “the gay Mormon Ivy Leaguer”, but the network seems content to leave the burning questions surrounding this label as a secret—for now.
Although being gay is rarely described as an asset in society, Rafe believes that he can use his sexuality to his advantage, even amongst his diverse Survivor tribemates. “I can interact really well with people and be emotional and understanding and not have this macho thing, not that all straight guys do but you know. People underestimate me. They're going to look at me and see that I'm friendly and that I'm this gay guy. What damage can he do to anyone?”Rafe believes that he can play a subtle game, using his wilderness skills to succeed while not being perceived by other contestants as the eventual winner. But if he can make timely interpersonal connections, Rafe may very well prove that his social skills (and not his wilderness background) will make him the sole survivor on Survivor: Guatemala.
from AfterElton.com
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