emmasi Posted February 23, 2008 Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 You'd be surprised at the amount of people that think being gay is wrong. Some people are barmy. I bet the same people don't mind seeing rapists, serial killers, incest, murder etc. shown in soaps!?! That's different though. Those characters are shown to be wrong in the show, and ideally locked up afterwards (maybe not for incest, but it's generally thought of as icky...). I'm sure if there was a gay character locked up and condemned for their "crimes" those people would be perfectly happy (I shouldn't laugh, that does happen in some places...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Lynd~ Posted February 23, 2008 Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 It's illegal to be gay in some countries which is stupid.Obviously being riddiculed by ignorant people is a choice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexei Posted February 23, 2008 Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 It's illegal to be gay in some countries which is stupid.Obviously being riddiculed by ignorant people is a choice... Not only is a illegal in some countries but they kill you because of it. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/7/22/102249/246 That's why it's so important to show gay people as 'normal' people in the sense that they live ordinary day-to-lives like everyone else. Programmes like H&A and Neighbours can do so much to help end discrimination. It's not as though they don't handle 'controversial' social issues on a regular basis (such as Cassie's HIV). Mod-edit: Inserted spoiler-tags, please remember them for spoilers outside the zone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emmasi Posted February 23, 2008 Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 Lynd and I were watching a debate on Lateline the other night about whether or not gay marriage (or civil unions) should be legalised in Australia. The stuff the guy opposed was coming out (no pun intended!) with was shocking. He said that the divorce rate between gay couples in other countries was too high (an average of couples being divorced after three years of marriage) and that it made a mockery of the institution. Like people shouldn't have the right to get divorced if their relationship isn't working, like they should just stay unhappy forever because a piece of paper says they should. Like straight couples aren't having a pretty high divorce rate themselves... When the host presented him with the fact that there was a lesbian couple in Australia who had been together for 20 years that wanted to get married, but couldn't because of the law, the guy quickly changed the subject... He then went on to imply that children given to gay couples were automatically (and irresponsibly) placed in an unstable and abusive environment. I don't know the facts of the particular case he was referring to, but I'd imagine that the adoption agency would have taken all the appropriate precautions to ensure that the child would be going to a safe and loving home. I think he said something about fathers having a higher rate of abusing their children than mothers do, so by his logic, that would put a child with two fathers at double the risk... Interesting that he didn't go on to say that, if men are more likely to abuse children, then a child with two mothers would be much safer. All of it a load of crap anyway. The guy standing up for gay rights simply said that it's not fair to discriminate against people, and deny them the same rights as everyone else, based on their sexuality. The other guy said "it's not about discrimination," and I said to Lynd I said, "I think that guy needs to find a dictionary." It's so bizarre to think that people like that actually exist. And worse, he's on national TV saying that "most Christians are against gay marriage." Um, not this one thanks! Jeez, not only is he advocating discrimination against "evil" homosexuals, but he's out there implying that "most Christians" are pig-ignorant bigots who are totally delusional... Eh. I didn't need that. I get enough of that attitude as it is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luc Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, i can't be stuffed going through all the pages, I reckon having a regular gay character (or characters) would do the show some good, seeing as the raitings have been lower, it helped the american soap As The World Turns when Luke and Noah got together, and the way i see it, it would help gay fans deal with issues that they have, and if Neighbours, which has a timeslot before primetime and a G rating is allowed to have a lesbian storyline (and it was well accepted) i would have thought it would have been obvious for Home & Away, a soap opera inside primetime with a rating that allows sexual referances and adult themes, to do the exact same, they always say that they deal with real, hardcore issudes, wouldn't having a gay character (or characters) be more hardcore, and realistic, because it's not like everyone in the world is straight, I know they introduce gay characters every now and then, but they last only a few episodes, what we really need is someone who can raise issues that confused teenagers relate to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carmelle Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 OH NO! Is there another appreciation thread on its way??? In other news I got a letter in the mail yesterday: Dear Mr Perry, Thank you for your letter regarding character suggestions for Home and Away. As you know, Summer Bay is the home to a cross-section of various characters representing lots of different personalities. Currently, we are not looking for any new characters to be developed on the show. Once again, thank you for taking the time to write to us about this issue, I will definetly pass your letter on to the writing department. I hope you will continue to watch Home and Away! Sincerely, Cameron Welsh Series Producer Home and Away I'm happy I got a reply and my letter was at least read. I hope they receive some more letters soon so they know it's not just one fan that wants it- there is many! Could this mean Aden isn't gay after all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DinerLandlord Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 Looks like it . That sucks. Or maybe he doesn't want to give the game away. I think this means that a lot of new regulars are arriving soon after all the departures, which is why they aren't developing new characters at the moment. So at least that's some good news. I'm not Australian and I don't know how conservative a society it is, but I think its really sad that young gay and lesbian Australians aren't given a positive role model on a popular tv show for young adults. 7pm isn't THAT early, nobody too young to know about sexuality should be watching tv at that time of day anyway. Its not like one of the blokes from Hi-5 is going to announce he is gay to all the toddlers watching! Not that it should be a problem if that happened. I just wish they would promote tolerance and understanding by showing that some people are different. Geoff and Annie are in the minority in Summer Bay with their devout religious beliefs, yet they are accepted by almost everyone for who they are. Why not show a person from a different walk of life, who can just as easily fit into the community? If the producers were seriously considering the introduction of a permanent gay character they should take note of John-Paul in Hollyoaks, he is a shining example of a non-stereotypical young gay man, who struggled with coming out but eventually was accepted. And Hollyoaks is shown EARLIER than Home and Away!!! And he wasn't the first permanent gay character on Hollyoaks, or on other soaps in the U.K. or Ireland(where I'm from). They had gay characters on soaps here in the early 90's!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eli Posted March 15, 2008 Report Share Posted March 15, 2008 I choose to believe that "Currently, we are not looking for any new characters to be developed on the show." means they already have the character(s) they're gonna develop in that direction (Geoff & Aden) It just seems to me like they're running out of excuses except for "We don't want to". It might be concidered a "risk" to do something so "controversial", but "As the world turns" was as far as I understand one of the American soaps in danger of being axed before they introduced Luke & Noah. Now it's about as popular as General Hospital, which is VERY good! They basically went from the bottom of the list to the top of the list in just a matter of a few months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eli Posted March 26, 2008 Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 !!! !!! Read this!!! Even though I'm not Australian and it's only briefly mentioned I was so excited when I found that link on a Queer as Folk board (ironically I'm posting H&A stuff I found in an "As the world turns" thread on a "Queer as folk" board ) ! I feel noticed! For those of you too busy to read it all, here's the paragraph: [continued from intro about "As the world turns"-fans campaigning for the show's gay couple, Luke & Noah to have as many on-screen kisses as the heterosexual couples] "IT COULD BE ARGUED that Luke and Noah saved the show. One year ago, “As the World Turns” was at the bottom of the daytime ratings. Since the big smooch aired, the ratings have shot up. The series now routinely gets higher ratings than the ever-popular “General Hospital.” In Australia, fans of the Down Under soap “Home and Away” are using Nuke’s popularity to petition producers of their show to give them a gay couple. " Don't these kind of things just brighten up your day and make you smile?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emmasi Posted March 27, 2008 Report Share Posted March 27, 2008 Hehehe, awesome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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