What are the motifs in The Boys in the Band by Mart Crowley?

Secrecy is a recurring idea within the play. The lives of the characters in this play are based upon keeping their sexual orientation a secret from the general public. They frequent places like bathhouses and gay bars where they can be open about their sexuality, but for the most part their lives are spent pretending that they are not gay, as Michael asks his friends to do when he thinks Alan is coming over. Keeping the fact that one is gay a secret is compared to living life in a closet, and so openly admitting that one is gay is called "coming out of the closet," often shortened to "coming out," as when Michael explains that "long before Justin and I came out, we used to get drunk and 'horse around' a bit."