Best. Gay. Week. Ever. (January 4, 2008)

LET THEM KISS, DAMN IT! LET THEM KISS!
As most fans of As The World Turns no doubt know by now, the show passed up another opportunity to allow Luke (Van Hansis) and Noah (Jake Silbermann) to have a smooch. This time it was during a New Year's eve dance that saw the fellows making goo goo eyes at each other and, at Luke's insistence, even sharing a sweet dance. Alas, they then snuck off to somewhere "more private." Sigh.... At least the line about their earning a "gay merit" badge was funny and suggestive.

I've already written before that I believe the show has done a lot of things right and doesn't deserve to be crucified for not delivering everything we'd like Nuke to be. That being said, I also don't have a problem doing everything we can to civilly exert pressure on them to treat the couple more equitably. And that brings me to chocolate. More specifically, Hershey's chocolate kisses.

AfterElton.com reader Jerome is advocating a "Kiss Campaign" to let CBS and Proctor & Gamble know we'd really appreciate a few more kisses between our boys. This would be similar to the Jericho "Nuts" campaign that brought that show back from the brink of cancellation. The idea is that if the network and their main sponsor are drowned in a sea of kisses they'll realize there is nothing to be afraid of by treating the Nuke storyline in the same fashion as the heterosexual ones. Either that or they'll slip into a diabetic coma and someone else can take over control of the show.

So dig out your spare change from under the couch, run down to the local store for a bag of kisses and mail them to:

Barbara Bloom
Senior Vice President, CBS Daytime Programs
c/o CBS-TV
7800 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Oh, and don't forget to include a note saying what the kisses are for: "Let Luke and Noah kiss!"

While you're at it, why not also take a moment to let CBS know how you feel through their online site. Every little bit helps! And remember, it always pays to be polite and to thank them for what they have already done. (For the record, politeness, gratitude, and dark chocolate all work on AfterElton editors, too.)

COULD THIS BE THE NEXT TODD HERZOG?
CBS just announced the line-up for Survivor: Micronesia which pits favorites from previous seasons against the fans who idolize them. Sounds interesting enough I suppose, but imagine putting celebrities like Madonna, Cher, NFL quarterback Tom Brady, and Jake Gyllenhaal on a deserted island with the fans who idolized them. Now that would be a show!

Anyway, the favorites from past seasons don't include any gay men such as Survivor: China's Todd Herzog, Survivor: Cook Island's J.P. Calderon, or Survivor: Borneo's Richard Hatch who is currently starring in Survivor: Federal Penitentiary. I haven't been able to confirm that there any gay contestants on the fan side, but after perusing the profiles over on EW.com I suspect we might have a player in the game after all.

This is Chet Welch, aged 48 and hailing from Ford City, PA where he works as a beauty pageant coach. About Chet Survivor guru Jeff Probst says:

If he plays this game the way he plays in the pageant world, then he is definitely a force to be reckoned with. If he doesn't, he could be going home soon. He has sort of been playing a version of Survivor for the past 20 years in the pageant world, and he gets this game.

I can't confirm whether Chet is gay or not, but this article from the Chicago Sun-Times "Gay men rally behind Miss America Pageant" interviews Chet for his thoughts on the matter. It never explicitly states he's gay, but it sure seems likely. I'll post ASAP when I get confirmation!

EDITOR'S UPDATE: I managed to reach Chet and I was right — we do have a gay boy in the competition! Details to follow.