Soap fans claim bias against gay characters

[davidinalameda]

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-atwtweb21feb22,1,2169900.story

It all started last Christmas, when Luke and Noah, the young gay couple on "As The World Turns," were about to kiss. Though fans had seen them kiss before, this time the camera panned up to the mistletoe.

Over the next few months, while heterosexual couples were kissing, Nuke (as fans call the couple) was restricted to holding hands, playing with one another's neck scarves and sharing meaningful looks.

Ensuing complaints of discrimination to CBS and the show's producer and sponsor, Procter & Gamble, had no effect. And the last straw apparently arrived on Valentine's Day, when every other couple but Nuke shared a kiss. They hugged instead.

Online fans began a nationwide media blitz on Feb. 20 to bring attention to the show, which has been twice nominated for an award from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). "Presenting a gay couple on television only to relegate them to insulting hugs and slaps on the back is the 21st century version of putting African Americans on the back of the bus," wrote one disgruntled fan named Tony. "We're simply supposed to be happy that we got the ride at all. This is 2008, and yet CBS and Procter & Gamble are clearly stuck in the past."

[Wabbajack_]

1. I wondered what happened

reminds me of Dynasty where all Steven got from his boyfriend was a manly back slap.

[terrya]

2. This is ridiculous.

Hell, even at the end of the run of "Will and Grace", there was scenes when Will and his boyfriend kissed.

It's all about Procter and Gamble getting deathly afraid of threats of boycotts from the likes of the AFA. Pure bullshit.

[Chovexani]

3. Soaps are a very weird genre

In some ways they're as salacious as anything you'd see at night, and in others they're stuck in the '50s.

Part of the reason they're so regressed in some ways is because of the sponsorship issue. More so than any other genre on tv they are beholden to sponsors. Hell, the whole reason they're called soaps in the first place is because back in the day, they were put on the air by laundry soap companies. The fandom is weird too: it tends to be split between younger, college aged people/young SAHMs and the old people who've been following them for decades. The sponsors give in on occasion to the young people wanting to see more progressive storylines and characters but they are deathly afraid of offending the old bitty demographic.

I haven't watched soaps since I was in high school watching Young and the Restless with my grandma. I have been following the Luke and Noah thing and Bianca on that other show (Guiding Light?), though, on gay TV sites and it's obvious the writers just don't know what to do with GLBT characters who are an actual part of the show. In the past GLBT characters were just a one-shot guest star who's there for the Very Special Episode on AIDS or homophobia or something.