Gay kiss on UK soap pisses people off

The BBC channel has been flooded with 145 complaints after airing a gay kiss on EastEnders before the 9pm ‘watershed’ (a term used to describe a time in television schedules which divides the period when it is permissible to show television programmes which have ‘adult content’ from the period when it is not).

The ‘offensive’ scenes were aired on Tuesday’s episode of the soap and showed Christian Clarke (John Partridge, 36) and Lee Thompson (Carl Ferguson, 27) engage in a passionate kiss.

“I am appalled by the display of homosexual kissing before the watershed shown on EastEnders,” one person wrote on a BBC messageboard.

“This is disgraceful whilst young children are watching and sets the wrong example.”
Another, Pat, wrote: “I had to explain to my seven-year-old son what was happening.

“He now thinks he is gay because he kisses his dad.”
In response to 145 complaints, some about the fact that the kiss had been shown before the watershed, the BBC said:

“EastEnders aims to reflect real life, and this means including and telling stories about characters from many different backgrounds, faiths, religions and sexualities.

“We approach our portrayal of homosexual relationships in the same way as we do heterosexual relationships.

“In this instance, Christian is enjoying the first flush of romance and we’ve shown him being affectionate with his new boyfriend in the same way any couple would.

“We also aim to ensure that depictions of affection or sexuality between couples are suitable for pre-watershed viewing.

“We believe that the general tone and content of EastEnders is now widely recognised, meaning that parents can make an informed decision as to whether they want their children to watch.”

The latest outrage comes 21 years after EastEnders aired the first gay kiss in a British soap.
Back then, Colin Russell – played by Michael Cashman, 57, who is now a Labour MEP – gave Barry Clark (Gary Hailes, 42) a kiss on the forehead.

Colin’s character was groundbreaking, the first to have a gay kiss on a UK soap.

17 million people saw it, The Sun was outraged, questions were asked in Parliament and another small victory for gay visibility had been won.
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hmm, what does a young gay boy think when he only sees a man and a woman kissing before 9 pm … will he think he is straight for kissing his mother? what kind of idiots make these complaints?