General Hospital: Night Shift’s Matter-of-Fact Gay Romance

That was the same factor that enticed Grimes to take on the part of Dr. Kyle Julian. Grimes told AfterElton.com, “One of the greatest things that attracted me [to the part] is approaching the [role as a] doctor, a brother, a person who has things going on in his life. A student of life moving on who happens to be gay. Not a gay man facing this challenge and the whole storyline follows that. I’m finding new friends in a new city, learning to be a doctor, and I’m gay. It’s not the forefront. It’s not what drives it.”

That’s exactly what GH:NS headwriter Rao intended. Himself an out gay man, Rao told AfterElton.com he added the character of Kyle to the show because “General Hospital has been on the air over forty five years. It’s a landmark soap opera, it’s part of television history and it has never had a significant gay leading character. I felt it was about damned well time.”

How did Sri think about the character of Kyle when he sat down to write him? “I really wanted Kyle to be a well-rounded character,” said Rao. “I didn’t want to tell the “angst-ridden, conflicted gay man” story because I feel, although that was an important story to tell, we’re beyond that. It isn’t compelling to me as a writer or as a viewer. I wanted to tell an interesting story about a man who is dealing with his career and his relationship with his brother [played by Ethan Rains, pictured right] and his friend and his love interest and who just happens to be gay.”

Chad Allen explained that he liked the role of Eric because that character was written in the same fashion. Allen said he’s “…a mature gay guy. Not someone struggling with his sexuality. Or with parents who don’t like him. What I essentially heard was a guy like me, who has good healthy dose of acceptance. Who had a real life and I really liked that idea. I was excited about the idea we could bring a relationship like that to the soap audience who hasn’t had a lot of that.”

Asked about the character of Eric, Allen explained, “He is in his early 30’s, he’s a teacher. He loves what he does. He has cirrhosis of the liver, but not from drinking. If he doesn’t get a liver soon, he’ll die. He’s in a tough spot.”

But things aren’t all doom and gloom for Eric. Said Allen, “What I love about him is that he isn’t obsessed with dying. He’s in relatively good terms with that just as he’s in relatively good terms with who he is as a person. So he gets to be present in his life so when he meets Kyle there are automatic sparks that light up and he enjoys that. If he’s going to be in the hospital, at least he gets to enjoy this feeling of getting to know somebody.”

Often a standard staple of storytelling for gay characters is the estranged family. Such won’t be the case for Eric. “The very first episode you meet my family,” said Allen. “My parents and I have a fantastic relationship. They love me. This episode my mother makes a reference to ‘Oh, I always wanted my son to meet a good doctor.’ Mom’s excited about her son finding a happy relationship with a successful man and that is something we haven’t seen a lot of. I think that is the interesting place were getting to. When you meet my straight sister, she is the one outside of her family because of some negative choices she’s made. She’s been ousted by the family and that has to heal.”

Allen also appreciated that Eric and Kyle’s relationship isn’t one that is immediately consummated. “They really get to know each other,” said Allen. “They don’t just jump into bed. This is episode three and we’re just having our first kiss. Kyle is a good doctor; he worries about not crossing any inappropriate boundaries.”

Allen’s especially glad about that as he feels gay viewers don’t often get to see themselves portrayed in a romantic light. Said Allen about the couple, “We really get the opportunity to explore something that I think gets a little bit lost in this modern romance and that is that longing. When I fell in love with my [real life] partner we had a long period of romance and longing that didn’t culminate quickly in sexual gratification or any of those things. That is kind of what happens between the two characters and that I think is what makes it possible that they really could fall in love.”