I know that I have talked a bit in the past about my little addiction to certain soaps (The Young & the Restless, The Bold & the Beautiful, and As the World Turns). They are fun and addictive ... at least to me. One of the more interesting trends that is happening is the rise of gay and lesbian characters that are becoming regulars on shows. One of the changes that is evident is that they are not just stopping in to have negative roles/stories. Instead they are becoming regulars and are being represented positively.

I think one of the earliest shows to do it was All My Children with Bianca, one of the children of Erica Cain, played by the ever famous Susan Lucci.


Probably the first couple to successfully be represented is As the World Turns' Luke and Noah. Over the past few years, each character has come out of the closet and come together. The audience has gotten to know them as they have gotten to know each other. They have even become more visible with the physical aspects of their relationship. Ironically, they are probably one of the more stable couples in soap-dom. Granted, they face no shortage of struggles since that is what drives soap plotlines, but they continue to stay together. I am guess it is because they are afraid of the backlash that might occur if they broke up and what that might unintentionally say about the instability of gay relationships.

Their stories have touched on a number of issues that are faced by alternafolks including the difficulties of coming out, bashing, housing discrimination, etc. What is really great is they are just treated like just about everyone else in the wacky community of Oakdale.

It seems that the number one soap (for decades), The Young & the Restless, has decided to jump on the bandwagon. I few weeks ago, it was revealed that one of their newest b-characters is gay.

Rafe was introduced as a lawyer specializing in family-related cases. He was sorta the nice guy that helped everyone out with parenting/adoption issues of which there are no shortage in any soap. He is also the nephew of a maid who works for one of the richest families in town. He sort of mentioned off-hand that he was gay when one of his female friends tried to set him up on a date with another female character. It was sort of just an offhand comment, and I was starting to think they weren't going to do anything more with the storyline.

Well, I just learned that they are going to be bringing in an earlier character (one we have not seen since he was a wee little lad ... think toddlerish) as a love interest. Little Phillip Chancellor IV is not so little anymore

He is returning to Genoa City after leaving the military, in which he served multiple tours in Iraq during the most recent war. The Chancellors are one of the original families to the show and own a major international conglomerate.

I am really curious as to what they are going to do with Rafe and Phillip. Obviously, they are older than the college-aged Luke and Noah. I have a feeling that they will likely explore the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy in the military because of Phillip's recent off-screen history. But will they be as open with the physical aspects as As the World Turns has been.

The one thing that is clear from the increase in such characters is that, in general, the viewing population is more and more accepting of GLBTQQ characters. I know that Guiding Light also seems to be developing a lesbian couple storyline.

One really interesting thing is The Bold & the Beautiful doesn't have any GLBTQQ characters. The reason that is kind of surprising, at least to me, is that the show is centered around the fashion industry. It is not like we are unknown in that field! I am wondering if this is because the show is the leading soap internationally, particularly in the Third World, where such storylines would probably not be as accepted.