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Gay Characters in EE (may contain spoilers)


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Old 10-09-2012, 18:00
AngelicPrincess
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Ben, Christian and Syed are all going or gone. Would you like to see another gay character in EE?

I would like to see a character who is not defined by their sexuality more that it is just part of them. I would love to see Diane Butcher a mother who also happens to be a lesbian and her partner move back to Walford?

I was not the biggest chyred fan but I will miss Syed. I thought it was brave of EE to have a man of faith who also happens to be gay. There is plenty of religious people out there who are also gay, for some it does not conflict with their faith at all and with others it does. So your thoughts?
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Old 10-09-2012, 18:02
priscilla
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Same a character not defined by their sexuality would be good. I would also like Diane to be a permanent character.
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Old 10-09-2012, 18:06
JarkdeLuxe
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I hate tokenism in soap but we're long overdue a bisexual. Just somebody who's a bit of a flirt maybe, not camp or anything but into guys and women without prejudice. There's actually a lot of story material there because it adds a whole now insecurity for the other person in the relationship if their boyfriend is liable to cop off with another guy as well as another girl I'm not saying he should be promiscuous, just somebody to represent the bis.
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Old 10-09-2012, 18:18
vaslav37
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Firstly as a big Chryed fan I am sad to see them leaving but life goes on as they say...

EastEnders in my opinion succeeded with Chryed but failed with Ben so going forward I would like to see the following -

One Gay Male character in his late 30's- late 40's and established as a gay man - no hang ups, possibly single but maybe not... Perfect casting would be Jeremy Sheffield as the new Albert Square GP.

The possible full time arrival of Gary Lucy as Danny Pennant as a gay character in his late 20's and then down the line a boyfriend for him..

A gay or lesbian teenager...not one of the established cast.

I also think the Square needs a lesbian character possibly Ava could be cast as a lesbian.

I don't think the return of Diane would work tbh,
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Old 10-09-2012, 18:22
aspijack
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They could pair Diane with Ritchie and keep them as recurring characters
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Old 10-09-2012, 18:36
AngelicPrincess
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They could pair Diane with Ritchie and keep them as recurring characters
Diane is already with someone. In fact Suzanne her partner is a doctor.....possibly the Walford's new doctor?
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Old 10-09-2012, 18:39
aspijack
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Diane is already with someone. In fact Suzanne her partner is a doctor.....possibly the Walford's new doctor?
I didn't know that it will be a good idea to cast her partner.
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Old 10-09-2012, 18:40
AngelicPrincess
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I didn't know that it will be a good idea to cast her partner.
Why not? She has been with Suzanne for years and we currently do not have a resident doctor in Walford she would fufil both these roles? And the also have her son who would be 19 now.
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Old 10-09-2012, 18:44
Scrabbler
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Fantastic thread AP

I just hope we don't have another occurence of a regular character suddenly realising they are gay and then becoming an absolute nutter who then tries to murder people because he cannot cope with his sexuality.

A normalish lesbian couple would be good, Diane would be ideal too as her and Janine would rock Walford together.

I'd love a family who is in total support of their relatives sexuality, perhaps they could go the other way and have a neurotic parent who is happy that their son/daughter is gay.
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Old 10-09-2012, 18:50
soapnut
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Tony Hills (who was bisexual) and Simon Raymond's characters were the best representation of sexuality in EastEnders. Only slightly controversial at the time, they were both portrayed well and weren't 'token' characters but it was all very tame back then. Both characters were popular and seemed well liked, however, as with nowadays, they didn't feature anywhere near enough.
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Old 10-09-2012, 18:54
CherryRose
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Ben, Christian and Syed are all going or gone. Would you like to see another gay character in EE?

I would like to see a character who is not defined by their sexuality more that it is just part of them. I would love to see Diane Butcher a mother who also happens to be a lesbian and her partner move back to Walford?

I was not the biggest chyred fan but I will miss Syed. I thought it was brave of EE to have a man of faith who also happens to be gay. There is plenty of religious people out there who are also gay, for some it does not conflict with their faith at all and with others it does. So your thoughts?
I think Christian should stay
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Old 10-09-2012, 19:09
Scrabbler
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Tony Hills (who was bisexual) and Simon Raymond's characters were the best representation of sexuality in EastEnders. Only slightly controversial at the time, they were both portrayed well and weren't 'token' characters but it was all very tame back then. Both characters were popular and seemed well liked, however, as with nowadays, they didn't feature anywhere near enough.
Nope the best representation was Colin and Barry. Simon and Tony were awful! Tony seemed to change his mind every episode about his sexuality and Simon was a drip.
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Old 10-09-2012, 19:38
Bertypop
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The problem with the gay characters in a soap leaving, is that once they're gone, the very next one introduced will be seen as a character to tick the box. To avoid this accusation of tokenism, the producers can tend to wait a long time before introducing a new gay character.
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Old 10-09-2012, 20:02
broadshoulder
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Tony Hills (who was bisexual) and Simon Raymond's characters were the best representation of sexuality in EastEnders. Only slightly controversial at the time, they were both portrayed well and weren't 'token' characters but it was all very tame back then. Both characters were popular and seemed well liked, however, as with nowadays, they didn't feature anywhere near enough.
You know thats true. They wern't. The producers didn't know what to do with them after a while. Perhaps thats the fate of all gay characters as the audience is mainly heterosexual and they must work within those parameters.

Perhaps the time has come for the beeb to do a totally gay drama where it can explain gay issues in detail without the fear of scariing the horses/audience.
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Old 10-09-2012, 20:29
soapnut
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You know thats true. They wern't. The producers didn't know what to do with them after a while. Perhaps thats the fate of all gay characters as the audience is mainly heterosexual and they must work within those parameters.

Perhaps the time has come for the beeb to do a totally gay drama where it can explain gay issues in detail without the fear of scariing the horses/audience.
They haven't got the balls so to speak. It's ALWAYS a fleeting storyline whether it be in a soap or a drama which culminates in one or all parties disappearing forever which of course doesn't reflect real life. All soaps' portayal of gay characters and lifestyles is so insulting and straight out of the dark ages, we may as well have a victorian soap.
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Old 10-09-2012, 20:32
Scrabbler
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They haven't got the balls so to speak. It's ALWAYS a fleeting storyline whether it be in a soap or a drama which culminates in one or all parties disappearing forever which of course doesn't reflect real life. All soaps' portayal of gay characters and lifestyles is so insulting and straight out of the dark ages, we may as well have a victorian soap.
Which is strange because 27 years ago they had Colin and Barrys romance which caused a bit of controversy. Shame the show doesn't seem to have got much further in portraying a realistic lovin couple.
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Old 11-09-2012, 11:18
Salome
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You know thats true. They wern't. The producers didn't know what to do with them after a while. Perhaps thats the fate of all gay characters as the audience is mainly heterosexual and they must work within those parameters.

Perhaps the time has come for the beeb to do a totally gay drama where it can explain gay issues in detail without the fear of scariing the horses/audience.
It would indeed be more honest to leave gay characters out of soaps because they only serve a heterosexual agenda in terms of drooling material and very limited, gay-related storylines.
This is also the reason why gay and lesbian characters are 'imported' (rather than established characters) so they can be evacuated quickly when they have served their purpose.
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Old 11-09-2012, 11:33
Freeman000
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I don't understand the obsession with soaps needing to have gay characters. If you take a typical Square in London, there's a very good chance that there will be no openly gay people living there. Albert Square has had plenty of gay characters over the past few years.
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Old 11-09-2012, 11:36
towers
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I don't understand the obsession with soaps needing to have gay characters. If you take a typical Square in London, there's a very good chance that there will be no openly gay people living there. Albert Square has had plenty of gay characters over the past few years.
EE represents a typical London square?
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Old 11-09-2012, 11:37
AngelicPrincess
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I don't understand the obsession with soaps needing to have gay characters. If you take a typical Square in London, there's a very good chance that there will be no openly gay people living there. Albert Square has had plenty of gay characters over the past few years.
Estimates between 1 in 8 to 1 in 10 people being gay means there would probably be a couple of gay people in the show. And most adults who are gay these days are openly so. So there is a very good chance there would be some openly gay people and even if they were not they could be gay people who are not open. Diane Butcher is a good character with links to the square we also know she has been with the same woman who is a doctor for years. Many have said we need a new doctor so why not fill the gap of bringing in another good character and a new doctor who also happens to be gay?
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Old 11-09-2012, 11:50
los.kav
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Same a character not defined by their sexuality would be good. I would also like Diane to be a permanent character.
I don't know much about Diane's character but yes, an openly-gay/lesbian character who doesn't need a dramatic, emotional coming-out story. Like an adult (not a hot teenage girl) woman with a job who just happens to be gay. Maybe a legal secretary from Richie Scott's law firm? Brings the story of sleeping with the boss to a new level, seeing as Richie's married already.... Plus, anything that gives Richie more screen-time is fine by me. I think she's great.
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Old 11-09-2012, 11:54
vaslav37
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I would love Ritchie to be a regular but I dont think it will happen unfortunely...
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Old 11-09-2012, 12:19
los.kav
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I would love Ritchie to be a regular but I dont think it will happen unfortunely...
No, I don't think so either. Still, we can dream can't we?
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Old 11-09-2012, 12:25
lloydsimco
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Estimates between 1 in 8 to 1 in 10 people being gay f
absolute nonsense
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Old 11-09-2012, 12:27
Badmk
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I would love Ritchie to be a regular but I dont think it will happen unfortunely...
She would be fantastic! We need a new bitch on the square!
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