Martin has been sharing some stories about the first gay male couple on daytime drama: Noah and Luke (or Nuke as some people have been calling them) from As the World Turns. They have been through the usual scary troubles that face every couple on soap operas. Noah's father, a general in the army, almost killed Luke after finding out they were a couple. Noah married an Iraqi girl with close familiar ties to help her come to America. Through it all they seemed to weather things quite well.

Some have complained that their relationship has been kept a little innocent, particularly for the world of soaps. For example, they have only kissed a few times and nothing more. The more I see of the storyline, though, I appreciate what the producers of the show are doing. They are treating the boys, as ray refers to them, just like any other couple on the show. It is also allowing people to see the core portions of a gay couple without of the flashy flare that might be coloring people's opinions. In fact, Luke and Noah are focusing more on the basic of their relationship and not being used as a shocker storyline to draw viewers in, even though that is probably what is happneing. In fact, the network is now using their storyline in many previews for the show because of the interest it has drawn.

Recently, they broke up. Mostly it comes down to Noah. Luke is the one who is more sure. In fact, Noah was still in the closet as they atarted to get involved on the show. He still seems not quite ready to be himself.

On Thursday, Cindy Lauper coasted into Oakdale as one of the stops on her True Colors tour. For those of you who know little about her besides her hits from the 80's, she is one of the strongest straight allies we have. As she says in the first clip below, she does it because of friends and family.

Some of what she says in the first clip are so powerful even as they are really simple and presented so calmly.





So, as you can see, Nuke is going to continue to have some troubles, but you can't help but wonder if the show is going to take an opportunity with this storyline to challenge Don't Ask, Don't Tell. The trouble waters of their relationship have allowed so many people to see the coming out stories of two college-aged kids.

No one seems to be threatening to boycott the show or Proctor & Gamble, the primary sponsor of the show making it is the only remaining true "soap" opera. Perhaps it is opening minds and getting everyday people to think. Cindy also talked about how important it was to support those people in the small towns because so many GLBTQQ folks live there and have so much less support because they are on their own. Perhaps this show is helping to provide this support.