PINK PARENTING ON TELEVISION WORDS_ LOUISA GHEVAERT In the wake of the new US TV series, The New Normal, with its plot revolving around a gay couple and surrogacy, we explore how television has played a key role in promoting lesbian and gay relationships over the last thirty years. However, its role as an engine of social change has had its fair share of highs and lows along the way. ISSUE 06 – SUMMER / AUTUMN 2012 16 WWW.PINK-PARENTING.COM WHY IS TV SO IMPORTANT? Television is an important cultural resource, which develops including homophobia and inequality in the law (since in 1987 people’s awareness and understanding of many different the legal age of consent was 21 and not 16 as it stands today). issues, including sexuality. Television is a powerful visual medi- Their gay relationship was portrayed with care and it proved to um which captures public imagination and commands massive be a turning point on TV. numbers of viewers. At its most memorable, it runs explosive EastEnders continued to push boundaries on TV and in programmes and storylines that challenge people’s perceptions 1988, Colin formed a new relationship with a work colleague and understanding of themselves, others and the world around called Guido. The BBC developed Colin’s new relationship with them. At its worst, it can be implausible and inane. determination and in January 1989, Colin and Guido portrayed the first gay mouth-to-mouth kiss on British TV. The episode TV COVERAGE OF LESBIAN AND GAY RELATIONSHIPS featuring their kiss attracted an audience of 20 million viewers Thirty years ago, lesbian representation on TV was virtually across Britain and angry front page coverage amongst right non existent. Gay men were usually camp stereotypes and wing press, fuelled by Conservative politics of the time which stories of coming out were always male. Gay-orientated TV called for a return to traditional family values. content was relatively rare on prime time pre-watershed TV up Since then, EastEnders has continued its determined until the mid 1980s. promotion of gay relationships and issues through subsequent It was British soaps like Brookside and EastEnders that characters like Ben Mitchell. In 2011, EastEnders sparked really grasped the nettle and began to represent hard-hitting further uproar and controversy when it aired a gay bedroom and dramatic storylines about lesbian and gay relationships. scene pre-watershed between characters Christian Clarke and These soaps appealed to both gay and straight audiences Syed Masood and portrayed their desire to start a family across Britain and they captured media attention and together and become parents. generated mainstream press headlines and coverage. One viewer praised the BBC arguing that the gay bed scene Channel 4’s Brookside was the first UK televised soap to was a ‘big step towards equality’ and another said ‘it makes a portray a gay man on TV. However, it was EastEnders that refreshing change to see a positive portrayal of a gay couple portrayed the first openly gay man on a prime time pre- on prime time TV and I applaud everyone for making this watershed BBC programme. The BBC, funded by British TV storyline such a powerful, moving and compelling one”. licences, commanded a significantly larger slice of TV However, other viewers were wholly unsupportive and argued audiences than the privately funded Channel 4 and this had a that the scenes should not have been aired pre-watershed. far greater impact upon the British public and caused Despite complaints from the public, the BBC stood firm in considerable media controversy at the time. its stance saying that it portrayed gay relationships in exactly the same way as it did heterosexual ones and that the EASTENDERS’ LEGACY bedroom scene was suitable for pre-watershed TV viewing. It In August 1986, EastEnders introduced Colin Russell, a middle- went on to say that it ‘did not discriminate by treating gay class graphic designer played by actor Michael Cashman. He characters differently to others in the programme’. This is a was the soap’s first gay character and his gay relationship with world apart from the delicate line that the BBC walked in the Barry Clark proved to be a controversial storyline the following 1980s when it first sought to represent gay relationships and year. Michael Cashman, who was himself from the East End, issues on TV and in doing so had to navigate the considerable went on to become a co-founder of influential gay rights public sensitivity of the time. organization Stonewall and he was elected to the European Parliament in 1999, where he subsequently became a BROOKSIDE AND ‘THE KISS’ spokesman on human rights. British TV soap Brookside, set in Liverpool, built on EastEnders’ In 1987, EastEnders became the UK’s first TV soap to early legacy of gay representation on TV. Brookside ran from screen a gay kiss. Although it only represented a small kiss by 1982 to 2003 and was at its peak during the 1980s and early Colin on Barry’s forehead, it caused public outrage and a to mid 1990s. It enjoyed mass appeal as a programme and record number of complaints. The British press reacted angrily from 1990 (when average viewer numbers reached 7 million) and dubbed the soap ‘Eastbenders’ for a while and questions programmes increased from two to three a week with a were raised in parliament about the show’s gay-orientated weekend omnibus. content during a prime time family viewing TV slot. Brookside was instrumental in bringing about social change in Despite the controversy, Colin and Barry’s storyline was its representation of a lesbian relationship between characters considered a breakthrough. It represented the gay community Beth Jordache and Margaret Clemence in 1993 and 1994. Up until on prime time television and their kiss attracted an audience then, British TV had largely steered clear of lesbian storylines, of 17 million viewers. As their relationship and storyline believing them to be difficult to portray and something developed, it was followed closely by millions of viewers across that uncomfortably challenged traditional portrayals of female Britain and it was used as a vehicle to highlight other gay issues relationships. Brookside broadcast the first pre-watershed » WWW.PINK-PARENTING.COM 17 SUMMER / AUTUMN 2012 – ISSUE 06 PINK PARENTING ON TELEVISION NBC’s ‘The New Normal’ follows a mother who serves as a surrogate for a Los Angeles-based gay couple. Bob D’Amico / ABC Bob D’Amico / ABC Modern Family: © THE PORTRAYAL OF SAME-SEX PARENTING ON BRITISH TV LAGS BEHIND TV SHOWS IN THE US. Emmy and Golden Globe winning show ‘Modern OVER THE LAST TWO DECADES, Family’ features gay couple Mitchell and Cameron MANY US TV PROGRAMMES who adopt a Vietnamese baby girl called Lily. HAVE PORTRAYED SAME-SEX the kiss was axed from the Saturday omnibus which aired at 5pm PARENTING WITH SHOWS as it was felt unsuitable for ‘family audiences’ and it stretched the LIKE WILL & GRACE, FRIENDS, boundaries of mainstream TV coverage at the time. MODERN FAMILY AND NOW HAS TV MADE SAME-SEX PARENTING MORE ACCEPTABLE? NBC’S THE NEW NORMAL. It is clear that TV, and particularly British soaps, have been a powerful medium for the representation of gay and lesbian relationships in » lesbian kiss on British TV on Christmas Eve 1993. The storyline Britain. There has been a fundamental sea-change over the last thirty quietly built up for a while between characters Beth and Margaret and years and there is now far greater equality in the representation of came to a head on when Beth attempted to kiss Margaret and told her straight, gay and lesbian relationships on British TV than ever before. she loved her. Interestingly, the storyline’s message took a while to That said, the portrayal of same-sex parenting on British TV lags become mainstream and it was not until the couple actually kissed a behind TV shows in The US. Over the last two decades, many US TV few weeks later that it received press and media coverage and programmes have portrayed same-sex parenting with shows like recognition on a national scale. Will & Grace, Friends, Gossip Girl and Dawson Creek. One of the programme’s producers, Mal Young, explained that the More recently, ABC’s Modern Family has brought the idea of show’s lesbian storyline needed careful scripting and acting so that it same-sex parenting to the forefront with it’s hilarious comedy of an was clear and understandable to straight audiences, given the lack of extended family involving a gay couple, Mitchell and Cameron, who lesbian representation on TV at the time. There was a distinct lack of adopt a Vietnamese baby girl called Lily. Modern Family has received Robert Trachtenberg / NBC lesbian role models and it was a challenge to portray a positive image numerous positive reviews from critics and has gone on to win an of a lesbian and to subsequently positively reinforce this in popular Emmy, and a Golden Globe award for best TV series in 2012. TV culture. The storyline’s success was partly attributed to strong And not to be out-done, US TV giant NBC are to screen a new The New Normal: and engaging acting by actress Anna Friel who played Beth. However, comedy from Nip/Tuck and Glee creator Ryan Murphy, The New © ISSUE 06 – SUMMER / AUTUMN 2012 18 WWW.PINK-PARENTING.COM Normal, follows Goldie, a waitress and single mum looking to escape her dead-end life, she is desperate and broke - but also fertile, perfect for LA gay couple, Bryan and David, with successful careers and a loving OUR FIVE FAVOURITE PINK partnership, there is one thing that is missing: a baby.