The Australian By Amanda Meade
Saturday, March 28, 2009. THE Seven Network has censored a lesbian kissing scene in its family soapie Home and Away after a viewer backlash.
Since the lesbian story-line began two weeks ago, 100,000 viewers have turned off and complaints have been flooding in. The now-muted kiss will air on Tuesday night.
The decision was taken to play down the scene after complaints from conservative lobby groups in media reports were followed by complaints from viewers. Producers were forced to cut some of the more intimate close-up images of policewoman Charlie Buckton and deckhand Joey Collins sharing a passionate kiss after dancing together on a boat. The original scene, played by actors Esther Anderson and Katie Bell, was no more intimate than any kiss shared by a heterosexual couple, sources said.
Some mothers contacted the network to say they did not want their children exposed to same-sex relationships in a family show. Home and Away is screened at 7pm and is rated PG.
The show is popular internationally, especially with younger viewers, and attracts an Australian audience of more than one million every weeknight.
The story-line might have slipped under the radar had Melbourne's Herald Sun not written a report this month headlined "Gay TV for kids".
It made international news, including one story in Britain's The Sun headlined "Home and Away lesbian fury".
Seven's current affairs show Today Tonight did a story that featured a conservative lobby group called Pro-Family Perspectives complaining about a so-called gay agenda.
Media commentator David Knox from the TV Tonight website said yesterday the PG classification allowed for adult themes with limitations and did not discriminate between gay and straight content.
"It's sad that in 2009 a kiss is considered more threatening to advertisers and family values than stalkers, serial killers and kidnappers, all of which sustain Summer Bay story-lines on a regular basis," Knox said.
Angela Conway of Pro Family Perspectives accused the show of developing "quite sexualised plot lines". Seven drama chief John Holmes declined to comment.
