Pushing the gay TV envelope (Adam related)

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IT IS sweet — and telling — how attached people get to TV characters, and how desperately they protest when their favorites are written off. But few campaigns are as passionate as the current one, from fans of the soap opera “One Life to Live,’’ to keep Kyle Lewis and Oliver Fish on the show.


Like so many power couples, these two men are known by a nickname, “Kish.’’ And the fact that they recently made onscreen love in a bona fide soap-opera way, surrounded by burning candles and backed by a lite-pop score, represented a groundbreaking moment in daytime TV.

Groundbreaking, to a point: Within months of the sex scene, ABC announced that the Kish storyline was ending and the actors would be relieved of their regular roles. TV Guide reported that ratings had been dipping — a standard woe for soaps these days — and that the network thought the show didn’t “resonate with the mainstream audience.’’

Now, ABC is being coy; a spokeswoman would only release a statement praising the storyline and noting that “the door is always open for their return.’’ But the conspiracy theories are widespread, since the culture wars are far from settled. When the Kish saga launched last summer, ABC recast an actress who reportedly refused to play scenes in which she’d be tolerant of a gay son.

It’s tempting to lament the fact that the networks will only resist so much; they still seem willing to cave to a loud minority of viewers who refuse to watch anything that doesn’t track their politics precisely. It’s even sadder, at a time when Ellen DeGeneres casually jokes about her sexuality on “American Idol,’’ that anti-gay politics still carries the perception of economic clout. And that gay-rights opponents can twist the debate to sound as if they’re the ones who aren’t being tolerated.

But it’s also worth celebrating how much the soaps have pushed the envelope. And it seems reasonable to expect that, for as long as soaps exist, more gay couples will come. Soaps might seem the least likely place to break cultural ground, but they’re actually tailor-made for exploring social change. They’re all about relationships laid bare. And with so much airtime to fill, so many viewers’ lives to represent, the writers have to come up with new kinds of love stories to tell. (One true family story: Scott Evans, the gay actor who plays Oliver Fish, is the nephew of US Representative Mike Capuano of Somerville, a gay marriage supporter.)

That’s why soaps have long been on the vanguard of social issues, from rape to domestic violence to gay rights. Back in 1993, Ryan Phillippe played a gay teen on, yes, “One Life to Live.’’ Recent years have seen a flood of gay soap couples, from Natalia and Olivia on the recently cancelled “Guiding Light’’ to teen heartthrobs Luke and Noah on “As The World Turns.’’ They were known as “Nuke,’’ and they sparked a buzz two years ago when CBS found creative ways to keep the pair from kissing on the air.

By those standards, Kish’s love scene set a high new bar. But what’s most striking about the Kish storyline isn’t the sex, but the politics. Theirs was a classic coming-out story, but it intersected with the current struggles for gay rights. A pivotal moment came at a group commitment ceremony — held because gay marriage isn’t legal in Pennsylvania, where the show is set. There were protesters, tears, and declarations of love. It was more powerful than any statement Adam Lambert made when he kissed a man at the American Music Awards.

So Kish may go away, but reality marches on. The District of Columbia just joined the ranks of places that honor gay marriage — through a legislative vote, not a court order, it’s worth noting. Now that gay marriage has been legal in Massachusetts for nearly six years, isn’t it time for opponents to concede that their nightmares didn’t come true? Who is the bigger threat to “traditional marriage’’: a gay suburban couple, or Rielle Hunter?

Indeed, if anyone represents family values, it’s Kish; TV Guide reports that — spoiler alert — they’ll be heading off into the sunset to raise a new baby. It sounds like an un-soap-like happy ending. And if that’s ABC’s parting message, it’s a meaningful one.

Joanna Weiss can be reached at weiss@globe.com.
Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.