An online friend of mine, ZenobiaDTC posted a very interesting blog the other day on characters coming out on daytime television with regards to how rare this topic has been broached over the many years of soap operas on tv. I couldn’t have said it better myself. Posted with permission:
Coming Out
September 9th, 2009
Something amazing happened last Friday. Something that has happened less than twenty times in all of daytime serial drama history. A regular, on-canvas character, uttered those rarest of words on a soap. No, I’m not talking about “I’m going upstairs to get my skis” or “wait, I can’t do that, we’re practically related!” No, I’m talking about those three special little words… “I am” followed by “gay” or “lesbian.”
By my admittedly not exhaustive but pretty darn dogged count, there have been fifteen characters who have said those infamous words and been on canvas for any regular length of time. There’s a list at the end of this post. Feel free to add to it. Five lesbians, ten gay men. Please note what I am saying: five lesbians, ten gay men. (Anyone wanting to hear more about the gender disparity in those numbers, stay tuned for a post later this week.)
To that number we can add one more, Guiding Light’s Doris Wolfe. Let’s re-live that moment for a second. It is after all, a moment worth celebrating!
A Celtic-Dragon's Blog 