Gay Sex On Daytime Soaps

On Friday's ALL MY CHILDREN, lesbian couple Bianca and Reese had sex. The couple came together off screen before Eden Riegel returned as Bianca and Tamara Braun joined the cast as her lover, but have only been together a few weeks on the actual show. On AS THE WORLD TURNS, fans of gay couple Luke and Noah are still waiting for them to consumate their relationship for the first time after a year and a half.

In the case of Luke and Noah, the lack of sex has not been driven completely by story. The characters have said over and over how much they want to have sex. They have had a number of perfect opportunities and big moments where it didn't happen. The couple is in the middle of conflict now, but when they come back together, as we know they will, will they finally make love? After suffering through a 214 day kissing ban, fans are starting to wonder.

Despite not sharing a kiss on their first day together, Reese and Bianca have quickly progressed and been affectionate with each other. Is this just a matter of different sets of standards for each soap? If Luke and Noah were on ALL MY CHILDREN, would they be having sex? And if Bianca and Reese were on AS THE WORLD TURNS, would fans be waiting indefinitely for it to happen?

What about the age difference? Bianca and Reese are older and engaged while Luke and Noah are sophomores in college.

Or possibly Bianca and Reese are helped by the fact that ABC, before the recent GREY'S ANATOMY controversy, has been, by far, the most gay-friendly broadcast network. Or AMC is in a better position long-term (with ATWT up for renewal in September 2009).

Or is this a case of it being more acceptable to the general public for two women to kiss and have sex versus two men? I haven't heard any complaints from the American Family Association about Bianca and Reese or ABC/Disney. Yet.

Whatever the case, thank you to ALL MY CHILDREN for not being afraid to go there. It shouldn't be a big deal and they didn't treat it as such. Whether you like a couple of not, or a story is written well or not, sex is a fact of life on soaps. When it is absent in obvious places, everyone notices. The longer it is delayed for Luke and Noah, the more it seems like a big deal. The more it seems like there's another ban in place - this time gay sex. Or gay sex between two men.

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Here are a couple of telling clips. The first is of Bianca and Reese making love on Friday's episode of ALL MY CHILDREN. The second is from this past April when Luke and Noah, who have been dying to find some alone time together, finally do, but decide jumping on the bed is the best way to spend it.


It could be argued that Bianca took many tortured years to get to this point, which is true. But this is 2008 and time to look forward. The only chance of survival the daytime soaps have are to try and be current and interesting, keeping the fans they have but also drawing in new fans, a new generation. THE VIEW showed this week that being current can drive up your ratings. Repeating the same storylines and same mistakes of the past will only lead to continued dwindling ratings and becoming irrelevant. For a day at least, ALL MY CHILDREN seemed ready to embrace that philosophy and not limit themselves to past conventions. Now it is time for AS THE WORLD TURNS to do the same.