Imagine being in Patricia Wilson's shoes. As she watched "All My Children" in her Desoto, MO, home last December she believed she was experiencing deja vu. Excited, Pat Wilson picked up the telephone and dialed her son Rodney 50 miles away, calling him out of his classroom in a St. Louis-area high school.

Imagine Rodney's initial shock with the intercom buzzed a few minutes before two that day, as he was teaching his last class. He recalls, "I was worried, actually, as never in six years of teaching had Mom called me with such urgency during the school day." When he returned her call, Rodney was intrigued with what his mother had to tell him.

Pat Wilson explained that she had just watched the character of Michael Delaney, Pine Valley High's favorite history teacher, come out to his students by pointing to a poster from the U.S. Holocaust Museum, indicating a pink triangle, and saying, "This one's for me, because I'm gay." She told her son, "He came out exactly as you did -- he used the same poster and said the same things. I can't believe that your experiences are being used on my soap!"

During spring of 1994, Rodney Wilson attended a National Education Association conference in Washington, and visited the Holocaust Museum. He returned to his classroom with a poster showing patches worn by prisoners in Nazi concentration camps. During a history lecture, he explained the meaning of each of the patches, indicated the pink triangle, and said, "If I had been in Europe during World War II, I could have been forced to wear this and could have been murdered, because I am gay."

An unlikely coincidence? Not exactly.

"We were familiar with Rodney Wilson's case," says Lorraine Broderick, AMC's head writer. Last summer, Broderick returned to the writing staff of AMC after a combined four-year stint at "Guiding Light" and "Another World," to find the idea of daytime's first gay teacher already in place. Writers Jeff Beldner, Hal Corley and Frederick Johnson were searching for a way to let viewers get to know another side of the much-loved character, Trevor Dillon (James Kiberd). The writers wanted to challenge Trevor and wondered what would happen if he had a gay brother-in-law. The idea of letting Trevor and others get to know Michael first, then discover he is gay, opened up fascinating possibilities for Trevor's character development.

Having Trevor's brother-in-law be a teacher was a way for viewers to further get to know the many new, younger characters on the show, and see them outside of the home, interacting at school. The writers wanted to show Michael being a good friend and mentor to Dixie Martin, a beloved teacher and a terrific uncle to Trevor's kids - all before the audience knew he is gay.

Once AMC's writing staff decided where they wanted to go with Michael, they turned to writer's associate and scriptwriter, Jane Murphy, for more information. She pulled together materials from all over the country. Newspaper articles on Rodney Wilson, as well as materials from Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) and the Gay Lesbian Straight Teachers Network (GLSTN), were some of the research Murphy shared with her colleagues.

Broderick and the other writers were captivated by what they read. Says Broderick, "Rodney, along with other gay teachers, really inspired us. What they have been able to accomplish, given their obstacles, gave us so much to think about when we were developing this story. It was gratifying to be able to write about things that had actually happened to real people."

Clearly, AMC was rewarded for its efforts. The soap received an award from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) for the storyline. "Whenever you do a controversial story like this, you expect mail from both sides of the fence and you get it, but the audience response to Michael has been overwhelmingly positive," Broderick says. The writers think the show's recent Emmy win for Outstanding Writing was due, in part, to this story (the episode in which Michael revealed his sexual orientation to his class was submitted to the blue-ribbon panel for Emmy consideration).

At first, however, things didn't look so promising. Actor Chris Bruno (Michael) says that initially he was put off by the character of Michael because he is gay. Bruno knew he would be taking on the extra responsibility of being seen as more than an actor, but also as a voice for an issue or a community.

Even though he knew it was going to be a challenge, he decided to go for it. "I recognized that this would be part of my own growth experience, and I just took a deep breath and went forward." On the day that Michael was going to come out, he knew already that something in his attitude had changed. "It wasn't a big deal for me anymore."

Then the fan mail began to arrive - fans cheering him on, letters from kids telling Bruno that they would rather commit suicide than tell their parents about their homosexuality, notes from gay teachers who were considering coming out to their classes. He has been pleasantly surprised at the positive reaction. Also among the mail have been letters with a religious spin. Some have condemned homosexuality and the actor for taking on the role. Some of his favorites, however, have been from clergy members who have written to thank him for helping to pass along the word of God: "That we should love our fellow man," says Bruno.

When Delaney came out in his classroom, one student got up and left, apparently upset. Michael then went through public humiliation, a firing, harassment, and most tragically, the loss of a sister by a bullet meant for him.

The reaction in St. Louis paralleled Pine Valley's in some respects. Just as Michael's students had differing and strong reactions to Michael Delaney's announcement, so did Rodney Wilson's students. According to Rodney, one student responded, "I respect you a lot for having the courage to say what you just said." Others chimed in. At that point, Wilson's students broke into applause. Recalls Wilson, One student looked as though she was going to cry. I spoke with her later, and she told me she had gay friends who had lost friends and suffered discrimination because of coming out."

But like Michael, Rodney also experienced negative consequences. Angry parents converged on a Mehlville School Board meeting, demanding to know whether homosexuality would be taught at their high school. Yet the heated confrontations between Michael and Jason Sheffield did not reflect Rodney's experience. "No parent has complained my principal," says Wilson. Just as Delaney had the word "fag" scrawled on his chalkboard, someone slid a piece of paper under the door of Wilson's classroom scribbled with the same word.

Rodney Wilson's classroom is no ordinary place, and not just because the teacher is openly gay. Overhead, the flags of dozens of countries flood the room with color. The walls are plastered with posters, maps and signs with political slogans. U.S. presidents, Martin Luther King Jr. and Bette Davis are some of the many recognizable faces that adorn the room. On the chalkboard in the back of the room hangs the now familiar poster of the patches worn by Nazi prisoners from the Holocaust museum. Near the door of Mehlville High School Classroom 115, a bulletin board features individual photos of students near a grave marker. "That's for extra credit. Students who go to the grave of famous former slave Dred Scott -- buried here in St. Louis -- get extra points, if they bring me proof of their visit," Rodney adds with a smile.

Rodney proudly points to the drawings of presidents and other notable figures that students have given him over his six years of teaching history at Mehlville High School. In March of 1994, Wilson did not yet have tenure, and the school could have opted not to renew his contract. "My principal was actually very supportive," says Rodney, whose case has been featured in an Associated Press article published worldwide and on a fall 1994 segment of "Dateline NBC." In the spring of 1995, Rodney received tenure.

What does he think of having a part of his life on television? "I was intrigued by it and felt a little uncomfortable at first," he admits. "People who had never met me knew something about me." However, Wilson likes the Michael character, and is quick to praise the storyline. "It has been very well done. I commend the writers of 'All My Children' for the care with which they have brought this story to life." Rodney hopes that Michael will continue to be completely integrated into his community and school, as he has been. "This story can only help people understand what it means to be gay and what the gays-in-the-classroom debate is all about."

Pat Wilson agrees with her son. "I am really glad that they've added Michael to my show, and they've done such a good job bringing Rodney's experiences to life."

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