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Edge Boston: Turns Away From Onscreen Gay Kissing?; February 22, 2008
Topic Started: Feb 27 2008, 08:41 PM (195 Views)
lukeandnoah	Feb 27 2008, 08:41 PM Post #1
Administrator Posts: 98 Group: Admins Member #1 Joined: Nov 27, 2007	http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=glbt&sc2=news&sc3=&id=70662 ’As The World Turns’ Away From Onscreen Gay Kissing? by Kilian Melloy EDGE Contributor Friday Feb 22, 2008 Soap opera viewers are starting to wonder if a fave gay couple are being denied on-camera kisses due to anti-gay bias. As the Los Angeles Times reports in an article today, followers of the long-running soap As The World Turns believe they have detected a pattern when it comes to canoodling on the part of gay couple Noah and Luke. The L.A. Times article recounts that an episode from last Christmas showed the couple about to share a kiss when the camera abruptly tilted up to show mistletoe above them. The context made it clear that snogging was going on, but the modest turning away of the camera, in contrast to earlier scenes of the young men kissing (and unbashful scenes that gave hetero couples on-air face-to-face time) made fans wonder--especially as a pattern seemed to be emerging. The gay couple were subsequently shown holding hands and shooting burning glances each other’s way, but no meeting of lips was to be seen. Fans wrote letters to the show’s network, CBS, the LA Times reported; they even wrote in to Proctor & Gamble, which produces and underwrites the program. It was all for naught. Come Valentine’s Day, when a kiss between lovers is de rigeur, fans were treated to the sight of Luke and Noah falling into a chaste embrace. The sudden shyness about gay affection seemed strange, considering that the show, as the LA Times noted, had been a two-time nominee for an award from GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, which serves as a watchdog against unflattering and untrue depictions of the GLBT community in the media. Finally, fed-up fans took their complaint to the media, orchestrating an exposé of what they saw as an anti-gay, and unequal, portrayal of the characters’ relationship. The LA Times story quoted one fan, named Tony, who wrote, "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." Continued Tony, "This is 2008, and yet CBS and Procter & Gamble are clearly stuck in the past." GLAAD itself issued commentary, with spokesperson Damon Romine saying that, "while tremendous strides have been made on soaps, it’s clear that we’re not at a place where gay and transgender people are treated the same on daytime as they are on prime-time or cable." But anti-gay organizations jumped into the fray also, with the American Family Association, whether or by coincidence, asking its membership to write Proctor & Gamble, which the anti-gay group had determined was the leading sponsor of network shows including GLBT characters and themes--or, in the words of the anti-gay Association, "overtly pro-homosexual television programs." The anti-gay group also concluded that Verizon, Target, Ford, Sears, and Macy’s were leading sponsors of GLBT-inclusive programming. Proctor & Gamble responded to fans’ concerns, with spokesperson Jeannie Tharrington saying, "We’re trying to be sensitive to all the different audiences who watch our show," reported the L.A. Times. Continued Tharrington, "We do make our decision based on what we think is best for the show’s diverse audience and what’s best creatively." In the case of Noah and Luke, Tharrington said that their story was being unfolded gradually on purpose, partially because the young lovers are depicted as living in a small town in the Midwest, but partly because the genre demands a more leisurely pace. "That’s the thing with soap operas," the L.A. Times story quoted Tharrington as saying. "They’re always trying to keep people wanting more." Added Tharrington of the Luke and Noah plot line, "It’s a very authentic kind of story." The network also responded, issuing a statement in which it declared, "CBS supports the producers’ vision for the Luke and Noah storyline." Continued the statement from CBS, "We have not censored it or asked them to hold back in any way." CBS also said that the ratings for As The World Turns had gotten better with the advent of the two young, gay characters.
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