Back in ye old Dim & Distant, gay characters in soaps existed to come out; get queerbashed; get a boyfriend; split up with the boyfriend; have an AIDS scare; then leave.

Likewise, Asian characters used to have an arranged marriage; run the corner shop; get racially abused; then leave.

Times have changed and British society (and TV) have accepted diversity a lot better.

That's why (to bring it back to my earlier post) Freddie in Eldorado was such a good character. He was already out and was so much older (a retired nurse, aged mid 60s) so his storyline was very different from other gay characters. I can't think of other major/long-running soap gay characters that have been aged more than about 40.

As for Section 28: it was to prevent local authorities promoting homosexuality. There was a famous example when a building used for offices by a number of charities in Worcester almost had its funding cut by the county council because the local gay helpline was based in the building. The council felt that donating towards that community building would be in contravention of Section 28. in the end, they backed down. The BBC did a documentary about it, hosted by Michael Cashman (not long after he left EastEnders). That was Michael Cashman's first major step into gay politics.

Simon and Tony - the most boring gay couple in the history of television.

So we will be further down the road of acceptance when we hate a character regardless of their sexuality.

Take a bow Aaron you meaningless tosspot.

Tosh and Tina are (imo) the most unrealistic unconvincing contrived, and most boring lesbian couple in EE.

I've always thought that Colin and Barry were very convincing, and therefore more enjoyable to watch

Can't remember many lesbians in EE apart from the two barmaids in the 90s. I think they were called Binnie and Della?

Another reason why I think Tosh and Tina aren't working is because of their rubbish storyline! I mean, I had thought that Tina was in an abusive relationship and Tosh was going to be a violent controlling bitch and the writers were going to come up with something similiar to Little Mo and Trevor but with two women, and all that has fallen by the wayside. Apart from a few "bad" looks Tosh sometimes gives Tina, that seems to be the extent of the "abuse".
We've had loads of gay coming out storylines and loads of wife beating storylines, but never when it's been two women. And that would have been a lot more dramatic to watch than what they've been given recently.....this half arsed baby s/l!

Ravi in Hollyoaks combined both groups!

EastEnders had out and loud barmaid Binnie and her quieter girlfriend Della, who ran a hairdressing salon.

Della wanted to keep the relationship quiet as she was worried her off screen mum wouldn't accept it. Binnie pressured her to come out. Della resisted before staging a public kiss with Binnie in the street.

According to Wikipedia "In 2005 their lesbian kiss was featured in E4's X Rated: Top 20 Most Controversial TV Moments; a documentary examining British TV's most talked about on-screen moments. It was placed at number 11 in the chart and, according to the poll, received an estimated 486 viewer complaints and 180 column inches in the British press."

Binnie and Della were in the series about 12 months starting mid 1994. They weren't great and I recall thinking Binnie always urging her girlfriend to come out seemed preachy and unconvincing.

I recall thinking Simon and Tony seemed preachy in a similar way. It was like their scenes were informed by a public service pamphlet rather than real life. Simon was exceptionally 'wet'. Their gay kiss was edited down to half a second but still created a huge uproar.