BBC receives complaints over Eastenders' gay kiss

Friday, 10th October 2008

Written by Mark Collins

The BBC has received over 140 complaints from viewers of Tuesday night's episode of Eastenders.

The soap opera, which airs on BBC 1 every weekday evening has apparently sparked concerns over a gay kiss between two characters this week.

Christian Clarke (John Partridge) and his new boyfriend Lee Thompson (Carl Ferguson) were seen sharing an intimate moment on the bench in Albert Square, only to be interrupted by Dot Cotton (June Brown). This, it seems, came as a surprise to some despite the show's reputation for 'realism', not to mention its proud history of gay storylines (the Tony/Simon/Tiffany love triangle springs to mind).

Posting a message online, one viewer wrote that "I am appalled by the display of homosexual kissing before the watershed shown on EastEnders. This is disgraceful whilst young children are watching and sets the wrong example," while another complained that, "I had to explain to my seven-year-old son what was happening. He now thinks he is gay because he kisses his dad."

The BBC, to its credit, defended the show indignantly in a statement, saying that "EastEnders aims to reflect real life, and this means including and telling stories about characters from many different backgrounds, faiths, religions and sexualities.

We approach our portrayal of homosexual relationships in the same way as we do heterosexual relationships. In this instance, Christian is enjoying the first flush of romance and we've shown him being affectionate with his new boyfriend in the same way any couple would."

Eric from UK
said this on 2009-01-13 00:39:32 PDT

Good on you Eastenders. It's just about time that people get educated about homosexuality, especially teenagers. there are gay people up there, it's a fact. Just accept it and get on with it

Alicia from UK
said this on 2008-12-17 19:44:34 PDT

People need to chill out...It's only a programme.Parents should talk to their childen about life instead of hiding those things from them.Also,if parents have a problem with what is shown in Eastenders,they shouldn't let their children watch it.People need to move on and realise that gay people to exist.

Allen from uk
said this on 2008-11-10 21:16:36 PDT

SO if a gay kiss is setting a bad example what the hell is the guns murder rape etc doing on eastenders and straight people let there kids watch that lol

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