Long-running British soap opera EastEnders cut a planned romance between two gay characters in the 1980s due to the introduction of anti-gay legislation.
The show, which has been airing since 1985, caused public outrage in 1987 when it aired a relationship between characters Barry Clark and Colin Russell. The couple shared the first ever same-sex kiss in a British soap opera — a simple kiss on the forehead — but that was enough for the show to be branded “filth” and “EastBenders” by angry viewers.
Actor Gary Hailes, who played Barry, has now revealed that their relationship was expected to progress much further, including Barry coming out to his family and receiving homophobic backlash, but the storyline was axed after the government passed “Section 28.”
Section 28 was an amendment to existing legislation which prohibited local governments from “[promoting] homosexuality or [publishing] material with the intention of promoting homosexuality” and banned schools from teaching the “acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship.”
As then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said in 1987, “Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay.”
Speaking on the Distinct Nostalgia podcast, Hailes said EastEnders abandoned the gay plotline in December 1987 “because of Section 28.”
The legislation came into effect in May 1988, but the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), which aired EastEnders, opted to axe the storyline ahead of the amendment’s introduction.
“The BBC found themselves in a difficult position. They had to be seen to be doing right by the law,” he said of the broadcaster. “There was stuff we shot of Barry coming out to his dad and the backlash. They changed it and that helped put the brakes on what they could do with the characters.”
He added: “Like Romeo and Juliet they were not allowed to be together.””
Section 28 wasn’t repealed in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland until 2003. In Scotland, the amendment was repealed in 2000.
Though Hailes’ character was cut from the soap opera, the character of Colin Russell — portrayed by Michael Cashman — persisted, and the BBC ultimately decided to pursue a new same-sex romance storyline in 1988, after the legislation had come into effect.
"Manosphere" influencer Andrew Tate, the former kickboxer known for his encouragement of men to act as "alpha males" in the way they approach life, recently made a laughable claim in a social media post.
The claim? That if a man enjoys sex with a woman for pleasure, and not for the purposes of procreation, he is actually gay.
A self-proclaimed misogynist, Tate is currently being detained in Romania, where he faces charges of alleged rape, human trafficking, and forming a criminal group for sexual exploitation.
He is expected to go to trial in the coming months. But his legal woes haven't distracted him from sharing his views -- or from trolling those he disagrees with -- on X.
A Pennsylvania school board canceled an appearance by Maulik Pancholy at a local middle school's anti-bullying assembly due to concerns over his "lifestyle."
The Cumberland Valley School District school board voted unanimously to cancel the gay actor's scheduled May 22 appearance at Mountain View Middle School in Mechanicsburg, a town of 9,000 people in the state's center, just 10 miles outside Harrisburg.
Pancholy, who played Jonathan on the hit TV show 30 Rock, Sanjay in Weeds, and voiced the character of Baljeet for Disney's Phineas & Ferb, is also an author of novels for young adults, including The Best at It, the story of a gay Indian-American boy and his experience dealing with bullying in a small Midwestern town, and Nikhil Out Loud, about a group of eighth-grade theater kids rising up against homophobia in their community.
A man has been convicted by a San Francisco jury for assaulting and robbing a man he lured to a motel using the gay hookup app Grindr.
Ronald Anthony Silveria, 27, of Fremont, California, was found guilty of first-degree robbery, false imprisonment by violence or menace, identity theft, misdemeanor assault, and false imprisonment.
He potentially faces up to 12 years in prison and will be sentenced on May 22, reports San Francisco CW affiliate KRON4.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins lauded the jury's verdict.
"The jury's verdict holds Mr. Silveria accountable for his despicable crimes," Jenkins said. "My office will always stand with victims of crime and work to ensure there are consequences for criminal behavior."
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!