Gays of our Lives (April 20, 2009)

This week I have more details about the new gay character on Young and the Restless, plus I present a new installment of our ongoing series Gays Gone By, in which I look back at the lives of previous gay characters. Plus I have updates on Good Times Bad Times’ supposed gay character controversy, the future of ATWT as well as our usual scoops, spoilers and more!

TABLE OF CONTENTS
FEATURE: Y&R's NEW GAY
GAYS GONE BY
IN MY HUMBLE OPINION (IMHO)
SCOOPS & SPOILERS
GOOL NEWSBEAT
BITS & PIECES
RATINGS & RANKINGS
SNAPSHOTS
SOAP STUD OF THE WEEK
QUESTION OF THE WEEK

THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS ADDS A NEW GAY CHARACTER
***SPOILER ALERT***

Stop reading if you don't want to know the identity of the new gay character on The Young and the Restless! 

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that Y&R would reveal that one of its current cast members is gay. Now I can tell you that sometime this week, viewers will learn that according to Lynda Hirsch the fella in question is handsome attorney Rafe Torres, played by Yani Gellman.

Yani Gellman as Rafe Torres

Rafe is relatively new in town, having started on the show late last year. Thus far, he's mostly been a supporting player working as an attorney for Genoa City citizens in legal trouble (fortunately, there’s a lot of them so he keeps busy). Rafe's sexuality becomes an issue when one of his female friends tries to set him up with a woman.

He's also been developing a friendship with the troubled Adam Wilson (Chris Engen).  But might things go further than that with Adam who, thus far has been straight and dated a couple of Genoa City ladies, or is there another guy in town for Rafe? 

Our mind reels with the possibilities! Naturally, we’ll be following this story every week, complete with clips of Rafe’s storyline starting in next week’s GOOL Theater.  We’ll also have a primer on The Young and The Restless to get you set up for life in Genoa City.

GAYS GONE BY: All My Children

All My Children has a long history telling the stories of gay characters, most notably the beloved lesbian character Bianca Montgomery (Eden Riegel) which began back in 2000. But five years earlier, when Bianca was still a child, the show launched a long running arc revolving around several gay characters including Michael Delaney (Chris Bruno) and Kevin Sheffield (Ben Jorgensen).

Chris Bruno as Michael Delaney & Ben Jorgensen as Kevin Sheffield

The year was 1995 and Michael was introduced as Pine Valley High’s hunky new teacher, who had come to town to heal his broken heart. Some folks suspected him of having an affair with a married woman, but as it turned out, Michael was a ‘mo, not an adulterer. Word quickly spread through town and the less accepting residents demanded he be fired.