CBS - SOAP'S GAY CHARACTERS HIT FROM RIGHT AND LEFT

CBS and Procter and Gamble have been caught in a pincers attack over a storyline involving a gay couple on the long-running As the World Turns, the Los Angeles Times indicated today (Friday). Gay activists have complained that two characters, a young gay couple named Luke and Noah, have not been allowed to kiss or behave on camera the way heterosexual couples do. Damon Romine of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) told the newspaper that "while tremendous strides have been made on soaps, it's clear that we're not at a place where gay and transgender people are treated the same on daytime as they are on prime-time or cable." On the other hand, the American Family Assn. on Thursday urged members to contact Procter and Gamble to demand that it stop sponsoring "overtly pro-homosexual television programs." A spokeswoman for the company, which produces ATWT, said "We're trying to be sensitive to all the different audiences who watch our show. We do make our decision based on what we think is best for the show's diverse audience and what's best creatively."

22/02/2008