Gay Kisses on TV: Finally No Big Deal?

A kiss is a just a kiss, or so says the classic song “As Times Goes By.” But that’s never been true of a lip-lock between two men. On television at least, a simple gay kiss has typically been something far more than just a kiss — and has often been enough to cause huge media controversies and outraged calls for advertiser boycotts.

But in 2006, after a smattering of notable gay TV kisses on television, AfterElton.com asked the question: Is a gay kiss finally just a kiss?

Probably not just yet, we reluctantly concluded.

Two years later, we ask again: Are American TV networks — and audiences — finally relaxing when it comes to same-sex male kissing?

Consider:

On April 28^th, the CBS soap opera As the World Turns ended an unacknowledged gay kissing moratorium when, after 211 days of interruptions and cutaways, the show’s two gay teen characters (Van Hansis and Jake Silbermann) were finally shown kissing again. The characters have kissed multiple times since then, sometimes very passionately.

As the World Turns April 28, 2008

On the May 5^th episode of the CW’s Gossip Girl, two gay teens (Jesse Swenson and Connor Paolo) kissed. (To keep the identity of one of the characters unclear until the end of the episode, the kiss was partially obscured.)

Gossip Girl's Jesse Swensen (left) & Connor Paolo

On the May 8th episode of ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, two male soldiers (Benny Ciaramello and David Giuntoli) kissed twice, once passionately while Meredith looks on in a hospital room, and again later as one of the men says goodbye to his now deceased lover.

Grey's Anatomy May 8, 2008

The May 11^th season finale of the ABC drama Brothers & Sisters centered on Kevin’s (Matthew Rhys) wedding to Scotty (Luke MacFarlane) and included another in a long line of same-sex kisses on the show.

Brothers & Sisters May 11, 2008