The scandal and thrill of watching same-sex kissing on TV

JupiterKid · 25-06-2020 2:40am #1

So, AHers...as it’s Pride week and all that shebang...

...can you remember where you you were and what you were doing when you saw your first gay/lesbian kiss on the telly?

We’re you shocked/sickened/disgusted/outraged etc... ?

Or were you a little thrilled and intrigued at the - daring for its time - spectacle?

These was, of course, THAT lesbian kiss in the Spring of 1994 on Channel 4’s Brookside, between Kate and Beth. And the gay kiss on BBC’s Eastenders between Colin and Guido in 1989 which shocked and outraged the viewing public at the time...

..and then there was the not quite moment on Fair City...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubcBX9BEIfU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxFjIp_agYg

Rubberchikken · 25-06-2020 2:57am

Absolutely no idea when or where.
Probably didn't register. Same as the fact that this is 'pride'week.

Why a whole week?

Btw have never seen either show referenced in op.

*Sigh*

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater · 25-06-2020 3:31am

I was about 11, this was in 1996. I remember my mother nearly falling off the couch when it happened, I thought it was gas.

I Am Nobody · 25-06-2020 7:30am

We didn't own a tv until the late 80's/early 90's,and even then it was restricted by my old man.So while we didn't see it on tv,I did see it with my sister and her partner in the back garden one night.Don't think I was shocked but was fascinated by it.

When she was 18 she came out to our parents,and well you can imagine the response.She ended up leaving for NY and has a great life now.I visit her at least once a year,best decision she ever made imo.

Mad_maxx · 25-06-2020 7:45am

Watching gays kiss makes me look away, nothing against gays otherwise

jim salter · 25-06-2020 7:49am

It seems that every TV show now has to have some sort of gay character and some sort of love scene.

IMO it is over representation and unnecessary (in most instances its thrown in just to be there, doesn't really add to the storyline).

25-06-2020 8:10am

I think the first one I saw was the Eastenders one and I think I was 16 at the time. From what I remember, I was aware that it was supposed to be a big deal, but didn't get why.

The level of my interest/disgust is based on the attractiveness or otherwise of the kissers, regardless of genders.

Kylta · 25-06-2020 8:16am

I get a thrill from watching lesbian porn. And after saying that I don't think thats what the OPs was looking for in reply to their post.

25-06-2020 8:25am

I can not recall it ever feeling like a scandal or a thrill at all. Or even registering all that much with me on any level. Not sure why. Maybe it did and I just forget. Or maybe it just was not a "Thing" in my mind.

In fact thinking hard I can not even recall all that much same sex kissing at all in TV or Movies. I never did watch a lot of Soap TV early in life - and I do not even own one now. So that probably does not help.

The only same sex kiss I can think of right now in fact is in the movie American Beauty. And even that took me a few minutes to think of.

JohnnyFlash · 25-06-2020 8:44am

I don’t like seeing two dudes kissing each other on TV. Especially if they have beards. Nothing against gay men, but I just don’t like to watch it.

Edgware · 25-06-2020 9:21am

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

I don’t like seeing two dudes kissing each other on TV. Especially if they have beards. Nothing against gay men, but I just don’t like to watch it.

Wait till they start showing a bit of rimming

paw patrol · 25-06-2020 9:37am

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

I don’t like seeing two dudes kissing each other on TV. Especially if they have beards. Nothing against gay men, but I just don’t like to watch it.

beards :eek:

jim salter · 25-06-2020 9:41am

Kylta wrote: »

I get a thrill from watching lesbian porn. And after saying that I don't think thats what the OPs was looking for in reply to their post.

I really hope you are female :pac:

Kylta · 25-06-2020 9:45am

jim salter wrote: »

I really hope you are female :pac:

Unfortunately not

nibtrix · 25-06-2020 9:55am

There was a lesbian kiss on Deep Space 9 in 1995, I think that's the first time I saw it on tv.

Flickerfusion · 25-06-2020 9:59am

I don't really get why anyone's shocked or offended by two women or two lads kissing other than they’re a bit homophobic, which can be something you’ve absorbed from being brought up in a society (and I don’t just mean Ireland but the whole anglophone media culture we all grew up in) that made anything gay taboo for a very long time.

It’s very much like being brought up in a racist society and if you’re thoughtful enough to recognise that, you are capable of getting past it too.

It’s 2020, we’ve very broad LGBT rights, plenty of us have gay family members and neighbours, two women or two guys can get married and about time people got over themselves on this issue.

If you’re somehow sensitive to it, go watch some gay themed drama on Netflix and get past it. It’s actually very boring in reality. It’s just that you’re getting giddy thrills from getting past a taboo, like victorians and their concerns about seeing bare ankles!

If we don’t get past this stuff, it’s a world where gay couples can’t even hold hands without risking being given verbal abuse.

Randy Archer · 25-06-2020 10:31am

Edgware wrote: »

Wait till they start showing a bit of rimming

I think they did that for the Channel 4 , they did a tv series about the ghays , rather graphic. Called queer as folk. Yer man from Dublin was in it - the lad who does all the big tv shows eg Love Hate , Peaky Blinders, Game of Thrones ...Aidan Gillan

arybvtcw0eolkf · 25-06-2020 11:37am

I was much younger for the Brookside kiss so I probably had a quick peddle & crank, the two lads, well I don't watch EastEnders so I didn't see it.

Same sex kissing on TV doesn't bother me, unless it was someone like my hero's John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Paul Newman etc

Same sex kissing in pubic, like on TV it doesn't bother me but as with straight couples I think its an intimate semi-private moment so don't stick it in my face and I'm cool with that. And hey, the softie in me says its nice to see a couple in love so I don't care if they're same sex or not, kissing is lovely so enjoy it I say.

D3V!L · 25-06-2020 11:41am

Willie Stale Subway wrote: »

I was much younger for the Brookside kiss so I probably had a quick peddle & crank, the two lads, well I don't watch EastEnders so I didn't see it.

Same sex kissing on TV doesn't bother me, unless it was someone like my hero's John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Paul Newman etc

Same sex kissing in pubic, like on TV it doesn't bother me but as with straight couples I think its an intimate semi-private moment so don't stick it in my face and I'm cool with that. And hey, the softie in me says its nice to see a couple in love so I don't care if they're same sex or not, kissing is lovely so enjoy it I say.

Awww, look who's a big softie

25-06-2020 11:42am

The first one that comes to mind was Willow and Tara in Buffy.

LillySV · 25-06-2020 11:53am

Flickerfusion wrote: »

I don't really get why anyone's shocked or offended by two women or two lads kissing other than they’re a bit homophobic, which can be something you’ve absorbed from being brought up in a society (and I don’t just mean Ireland but the whole anglophone media culture we all grew up in) that made anything gay taboo for a very long time.

It’s very much like being brought up in a racist society and if you’re thoughtful enough to recognise that, you are capable of getting past it too.

It’s 2020, we’ve very broad LGBT rights, plenty of us have gay family members and neighbours, two women or two guys can get married and about time people got over themselves on this issue.

If you’re somehow sensitive to it, go watch some gay themed drama on Netflix and get past it. It’s actually very boring in reality. It’s just that you’re getting giddy thrills from getting past a taboo, like victorians and their concerns about seeing bare ankles!

If we don’t get past this stuff, it’s a world where gay couples can’t even hold hands without risking being given verbal abuse.

You sound hetrophobic... you should go watch some straight porn on pornhub and get past/ off on it

Feisar · 25-06-2020 11:54am

Flickerfusion wrote: »

I don't really get why anyone's shocked or offended by two women or two lads kissing other than they’re a bit homophobic, which can be something you’ve absorbed from being brought up in a society (and I don’t just mean Ireland but the whole anglophone media culture we all grew up in) that made anything gay taboo for a very long time.

It’s very much like being brought up in a racist society and if you’re thoughtful enough to recognise that, you are capable of getting past it too.

It’s 2020, we’ve very broad LGBT rights, plenty of us have gay family members and neighbours, two women or two guys can get married and about time people got over themselves on this issue.

If you’re somehow sensitive to it, go watch some gay themed drama on Netflix and get past it. It’s actually very boring in reality. It’s just that you’re getting giddy thrills from getting past a taboo, like victorians and their concerns about seeing bare ankles!

If we don’t get past this stuff, it’s a world where gay couples can’t even hold hands without risking being given verbal abuse.

I watched gay porn to get over the "icky" factor I feel when it comes to two men kissing etc. Didn't work, it's too hard wired into me.

arybvtcw0eolkf · 25-06-2020 11:59am

D3V!L wrote: »

Awww, look who's a big softie

Don't let the biker or martial arts people know

Speedsie · 25-06-2020 12:21pm

Willie Stale Subway wrote: »

Same sex kissing in pubic, like on TV it doesn't bother me but as with straight couples I think its an intimate semi-private moment so don't stick it in my face and I'm cool with that. And hey, the softie in me says its nice to see a couple in love so I don't care if they're same sex or not, kissing is lovely so enjoy it I say.

Not a big fan of public displays of affection myself, but I'm not entirely sure I've witnessed pubic kissing on mainstream TV myself!

greenspurs · 25-06-2020 12:56pm

Imagine my surprise that a certain "MR" didn't start this thread !!! …

yerwanthere123 · 25-06-2020 1:06pm

Mad_maxx wrote: »

Watching gays kiss makes me look away, nothing against gays otherwise

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

I don’t like seeing two dudes kissing each other on TV. Especially if they have beards. Nothing against gay men, but I just don’t like to watch it.

Oops my finger slipped!

Vita nova · 25-06-2020 1:15pm

Deleted User wrote: »

...
The only same sex kiss I can think of right now in fact is in the movie American Beauty. And even that took me a few minutes to think of.

Definitely one that's remembered but was a non-consensual kiss and a prelude to something awful.

One funny one that I remember is Sarah Michelle Geller teaching Selma Blair how to kiss on Cruel Intentions because as we all know, girls learn how to kiss boys by practicising with other girls.

One eyed Jack · 25-06-2020 1:39pm

Flickerfusion wrote: »

I don't really get why anyone's shocked or offended by two women or two lads kissing other than they’re a bit homophobic, which can be something you’ve absorbed from being brought up in a society (and I don’t just mean Ireland but the whole anglophone media culture we all grew up in) that made anything gay taboo for a very long time.

It’s very much like being brought up in a racist society and if you’re thoughtful enough to recognise that, you are capable of getting past it too.

It’s 2020, we’ve very broad LGBT rights, plenty of us have gay family members and neighbours, two women or two guys can get married and about time people got over themselves on this issue.

This is just daft. You say you really don’t get why anyone’s shocked or offended by two lads or two women kissing other than they’re a bit homophobic, yet you’re not thoughtful enough yourself to recognise that some people just aren’t into that sort of shìte no matter who the participants are. There’s nothing to get past, plenty of people just aren’t into it and don’t find it attractive or interesting or something they want to watch. It has nothing to do with it being 2020 or any other time, but it’s about time you drop the persecution complex because people aren’t into what you’re into.

Flickerfusion wrote: »

If you’re somehow sensitive to it, go watch some gay themed drama on Netflix and get past it. It’s actually very boring in reality. It’s just that you’re getting giddy thrills from getting past a taboo, like victorians and their concerns about seeing bare ankles!

No interest in getting past it tbh, though as for your point about gay themed dramas on Netflix, there’s plenty of good ones to watch, and there’s plenty that don’t make their characters sexual orientation the theme of the film or series and it doesn’t have to stink of mere tokenism thinking they’re helping anyone “get over” anything.

Flickerfusion wrote: »

If we don’t get past this stuff, it’s a world where gay couples can’t even hold hands without risking being given verbal abuse.

All adults risk verbal abuse for holding hands in public, not just people who are gay. Perhaps if they just did it and didn’t give a shìt what other people thought, they might realise that actually people aren’t all that interested in whether they’re holding hands or they’re kissing or anything else. Same as it is for most people. You’d realise that if you grew up in an anglophone media culture or Ireland that we’ve neither been racist nor homophobic as a society, but rather it was more likely the circumstances in which you were raised that instilled in you an irrational fear of other people.

25-06-2020 1:45pm

One eyed Jack wrote: »

All adults risk verbal abuse for holding hands in public, not just people who are gay.

Straight couples might get a jeering, but they're not going to be physically assaulted for it.

Flickerfusion · 25-06-2020 1:46pm

LillySV wrote: »

You sound hetrophobic... you should go watch some straight porn on pornhub and get past/ off on it

Absolutely hilarious point there... such clever wordplay. Well done! (claps very slowly)

I wasn't talking about porn. Nor do I have any issues with straight couples wearing the faces off each other. I strongly encourage it. Although, it's damn hard though an anti-COVID face mask at the moment.

However, what I was saying is that it's just about normal interactions between people in terms of displays of affection, be they straight or gay.

It's not that long ago that Hollywood and US TV wouldn't even allow the depiction of a married couple sharing a bed as it was a bit 'foreign minded' and something they might do in French film. It's why you'll always see the married couples with two bed and a locker in between. Nobody in reality actually lived like that (well other than rather strange people) but Hollywood / TV censors in the US were that concerned about the suggestion that a couple might ... have sex.

People raised eyebrows when Kirk and Uhura kissed on US TV back in 1968, because nobody had seen an interracial kiss on TV before. That's seems racist and utterly ludicrous now, but that's how things were in 1968.

We moved on, got over it and and I think the same applies to gay kisses on screen or on tv, when we've had a world where you really never saw two guys or two women kissing in media or fictional portrayals, then it's something that's going to raise eyebrows when it really is about as boring as it gets.

So, honestly, if you've an issue with it - and you know you do : go watch some LGBT themed drama, plenty of it on Netflix and stop living in the 1970s.

Flickerfusion · 25-06-2020 1:53pm

One eyed Jack wrote: »

All adults risk verbal abuse for holding hands in public, not just people who are gay. Perhaps if they just did it and didn’t give a shìt what other people thought, they might realise that actually people aren’t all that interested in whether they’re holding hands or they’re kissing or anything else. Same as it is for most people. You’d realise that if you grew up in an anglophone media culture or Ireland that we’ve neither been racist nor homophobic as a society, but rather it was more likely the circumstances in which you were raised that instilled in you an irrational fear of other people.

All adults do not risk verbal abuse in public and to be quite honest. You have no idea what you're talking about. I'm bi and I've experience it first hand and it anything but pleasant and I can absolutely give you a full account of the experience of both sides of that particular fence, and one is a hell of a lot easier.

It is absolutely not a brave move to walk hand in hand through the middle of a random part of Dublin, Cork or anywhere else in Ireland, but try doing that with someone of the same sex and while things have improved, rather nasty stuff still happens in terms of verbal abuse and even people throwing stuff (as I experience in Dublin 4 one night!!)

When's the last time you've seen someone scream "f**ing straights!!" out a car window and throw stuff at them!? I would suspect absolutely never, other than in some right-wing fantasy perhaps.

The scandal and thrill of watching same-sex kissing on TV

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