Once again Australian society is being held to ransom by wowser family groups. This time they’ve clashed with Channel 7 over a lesbian plot line in their tv soap ‘Home and Away’.

The complaints from groups such as ‘Pro Family Perspectives’ revolve around a kissing scene between a two females in a recently developed lesbian plotline. Home and Away airs at 7pm and is rated PG and is a soap opera.

“They (Home and Away) continue to market to kids and they continue to develop quite sexualised plot lines,” Pro-Family Perspectives director Angela Conway said earlier this month.

Now I’m not a scientist but soap operas practically revolve around relationship story lines and people are kissing on them left right and center. How the hell is having two females kiss any different then having a straight couple kiss?

I mean you can turn on the tv at 4:30 and watch straight couples ram tongues down each others throats and then quickly cut away to another scene before they get undressed all afternoon on daytime soaps and nobody has a problem with that.

As David Knox from TV Tonight points out;

PG television allows for adult themes with limitations. A soap can depict romance as either heterosexual or homosexual. Seven fell within the boundaries of the PG ruling to include a same-sex kiss, just as it has kisses by straight characters.

Let’s face it this is about an anti-gay agenda and Angela Conway embarrassingly proves it;

The plot lines that young kids and teenagers should be presented with should be about really authentic relationships that are not just sexualised.

Now I’m a straight male and am certainly not about to parade down the street for gay rights but jesus christ, the above quote must be extremely insulting to the gay community. In one single sweeping statement Angela asserts that homosexual relationships are not authentic and are simply all about the sex.

Talk about a slap in the face.

Are family groups really that worried that little Jane is going to start munching carpet and thus tear her family apart because she saw two women kissing on tv? Is that really going to destroy the moral fabric of ‘family’ in Australia?

Back in 2007, marriages in Australia had a 50% divorce rate; so no, I really don’t think so.

Unfortunately minority family groups in Australia are infamous for homophobia. On the topic of the legalisation of gay marriage, Jack Sonnemann, head of the Australian Federation for the Family, was quoted last last year;

“We were poised and ready because we knew there was going to be a fight,” says Sonnemann. “And the first thing we did was shot off about 3,500 letters to my special readers of my newsletter, and those letters caused the prime minister of Australia to reverse his stand. He said ‘Oops, I’m sorry, we will not legalize same-sex marriage.’”

Yeah because you know, I can picture Rudd sitting there in his office having an executive meeting over the concerns of 3,500 angry suburbians.

Seven has responded by toning down the kiss, which was supposed to air in its entirety this Tuesday.

What irks me more so then then channel 7′s decision is the mentality of the family groups. How the hell is someone’s lesbian daughter suppose to feel now if her parents belong to one of these nutjob groups? What message does it send out to the wider community? If it really is about the kids (and it isn’t ) do we really want them to think gay relationships are worthy of censorship on national television?

Every week we’ve got straight couples porking their brains out on Channel 9′s underbelly from 8:30pm yet oh no, how dare someone suggest we show two females kissing during prime time.

From internet filters, to lesbian kisses on tv to a whole host of other bannings it is clear that that Australian society will continue to be subjected to the whims of minority family groups.

Now i’m not so naive that I believe channel 7′s intentions with the storyline were for anything other then attention grabbing headlines (isn’t that like the holy grail result of storylines?) but it’s about time somebody publicly told family groups to fuck off already.

I think it’s disastrous that in the year 2009 in Australia we still have idiots running around with the idea that homosexuals are incapable of meaningful relationships because they think that watching Sydney’s Madi Gras on television is an accurate depiction of what it must be like to be gay.

Update 28th March, 2009

TvAusCast are reporting that the rumours of the kissing scene being self censored by Channel 7 are false. Cameron writes;

According to ‘Home and Away’ fan site, BacktotheBay.net, these rumours are completely false. The fan site citing a source on the show had contacted them directly to set the record straight.

“The articles are completely unfounded and that the kiss will be airing on Tuesday night as originally planned.”

Take that as you will. Amanda Meade from The Australian has stated that “Seven drama chief John Holmes declined to comment.” so BacktotheBay’s claim could be credible.

It still doesn’t change the fact that it’s sad people got uppity over it.


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