By an overwhelming margin, many of you said that you would continue to watch a TV show if it featured a gay male couple who expressed intimacy on a regular basis. This was by far the most popular poll I've conducted here. The reason for the high turnout is that As the World Turns viewers in favor of the gay male couple Luke and Noah (played by Van Hansis and Jake Silberman) found out about the poll and posted the link to my blog so that other fans could vote. If any of them are reading this, I want to thank you for taking the time to participate.Of the 17 people who voted no, there was one who explained why she did. Although another person voted yes, she did say that she wasn't comfortable watching same sex intimacy. I am thankful to both of them for coming forward because I think it's important to hear opposing viewpoints. One thing that I found interesting in regards to their comments is that they both felt that their views on the issue of gay male intimacy wouldn't go over too well with a majority of people. If this is true, I would say that it's a step in the right direction.
Unlike previous ones, there is no winner or loser in this poll. I say that knowing there were 367 votes for yes and only 17 for no. One person who voted said on a Van Hansis message board that they hoped the AFA (American Family Association) wouldn't find out about the poll so that Luke and Noah fans could claim another victory. The way I see it, I don't think either side can claim a victory based on the results of this poll. If the AFA had found this poll instead of fans of ATWT/Luke and Noah, the results would have been much different.
Who knows, maybe in our lifetime we will reach a point in time when seeing same sex intimacy portrayed on TV isn't a big deal. I am somewhat optimistic because boundaries in regards to the portrayal of minorities and women on TV have been torn down over the years.
Here are the final poll results:
Yes- 95%
No- 4%
Below is a clip from "As the World Turns" that features the first gay male kiss in daytime TV history.
4 comments:
Whoa. We've come a long way, baby.
I totally agree that someday this will be a non-issue. Lucy and Ricky didn't even share a bed on TV and look what's on TV now...
The best gay male kissing comes on Torchwood. But then again, Captain Jack will shag or kiss anything if its gorgeous enough!
Just Jamie: Thanks for stopping by. I don't know why, but after reading your comments I feel like smoking a Virginia Slims cigarette.
The Rock Chick: That whole twin bed thing on TV shows of the 50s and 60s was so silly. It's quite a jump from twin beds to Skinemax.
Mistress of the D: Captain Jack sounds like Captain Kirk.
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