Not so long ago – in fact a very short time ago – the notion for men to have a relationship with one another was illegal. Still, to this day, many gay couples struggle to hold hands in public for fear of violence. Transgender communities are made to feel shamed for being who they are most comfortable with being. Bisexual people can be labelled greedy. Pansexuality and asexuality are barely even understood.
Since the 60s and even the 80s, we have made big steps. Far too recently, it has been legalised that gay couples can actually marry like *gasp* real humans. And last year, EastEnders was not doing us justice where previously they did. EastEnders aired homophobia stories in the 80s and didn’t sympathise with it. It aired the first openly gay couple kissing via Barry and Colin. It had power couples such as Simon and Tony, Syed and Christian and Ben and Paul.
Last year, the only gay character, Tina Carter, was busy sleeping with men in drunken one night stands – those men being Billy Mitchell and Lee Ryan from Blue. It was hinted that Bernie was struggling with her sexuality but this was explored, very briefly, as a sub plot.
Fast forward to now and we have a gay bar, two lesbian characters, supportive families, a gay pride parade, and a hot, intense gay couple. This is the LGBTQI+ representation we deserve from a platform that reaches millions and is meant to represent a cross section of the East End of London.
The fact that the top rated soap on the BBC dedicated an entire episode to gay pride and the storylines for its LGBTQI+ characters is an important step. EastEnders has a largely young demographic who need to see themselves represented on TV, whether it’s as Ben, a confident gay man, Callum, someone struggling with his identity, Bernie, a lesbian finding herself or the drag artist on stage, telling everyone to be proud.
It showed us how parents like Karen Taylor should be. And friends and older generations like Ted can too embrace a changing and bettering world of acceptance.
And yet, it wasn’t too idealistic. The episode was mostly optimistic and full of the joy, showing that being gay is something to celebrate.
But its darker edge towards the end signalled that we still have a long way to go – and people do still suffer just because they happen to fancy people of the same gender.
We like to pat ourselves on the back for being more forward thinking and accepting but, the truth is, we need episodes like this to educate the upcoming generations that this is normality.
EastEnders aired an episode that was entertaining, hopeful, educational, diverse and yet very soapy and dramatic.
Thus, a triumph.
EastEnders, we just about forgive you for the year or so where you had a just one lesbian sleeping with men. The show is now leading the way, along with Hollyoaks, in LGBTQI+ representation. For the genre to survive, this is the way to go and a brilliant first step of what I hope there will be many more.
Source: Read Full Article