Gays of our Lives (June 16, 2009)

This week’s column kicks off with GAYS GONE BY featuring As The World Turns’ first gay character all the way back from 1988. GOOL Theater has the return of Spanish teen soap Física O Química and some steamy clips from All That Matters. Plus spoilers of domestic unrest on Forbidden Love and a shocking kiss on EastEnders. Meanwhile, GOOL NEWSBEAT has the dish on what’s ahead for The Young and the Restless’ Rafe Torres and Raising the Bar’s Charlie Sagansky. And as always, I've got the SNAPSHOTS and SOAP STUD OF THE WEEK for you!

TABLE OF CONTENTS
FEATURE: GAYS GONE BY
GOOL THEATER
IN MY HUMBLE OPINION (IMHO)
SCOOPS & SPOILERS
GOOL SNEAK PEEKS
GOOL NEWSBEAT
BITS & PIECES
RATINGS & RANKINGS
SNAPSHOTS
SOAP STUD OF THE WEEK
QUESTION OF THE WEEK

GAYS GONE BY — As The World Turns’ Hank Eliot

While As The World Turns’ Luke Snyder (Van Hansis) broke new ground with his coming out story a few years back, and then made history with his wildly popular romance with Noah Mayer (Jake Silbermann), it wasn’t the first time ATWT has tackled a gay storyline. Back in 1988, long before Luke Snyder was even a gay twinkle in his parents' eyes (in fact, Holden and Lily were just beginning their stormy, decades long relationship) the show introduced the first regular gay male on daytime television in the form of Hank Eliot, played by Brian Starcher.

Hank was a fashion designer who came to Oakdale to work with Barbara Ryan. A charismatic fellow, he quickly became part of the fabric of the city, befriending many of the show’s citizens, including the show’s two main teens at the time, Andy Dixon and Paul Ryan (who was only a little insane back then). But he also attracted the attention of one Iva Snyder (Luke’s biological grandmother), who became romantically interested in Hank.

He told her he had a lover back in New York – while neglecting to tell her he was male – but that didn’t stop her from falling for him. After Iva kissed him, Hank realized he had to tell Iva the truth.

On August 18^th, 1988, Hank came out to Iva – and to daytime television.

As you might expect, given the time period and the fact that gays anywhere on television were very rare – and usually not presented in a positive light – the dialogue is rather preachy and awkward. Even though the actors do their best, Starcher comes across as a bit stiff, but I think it’s because in some sense Hank was not so much a person, but a point of discussion.