The first gay kiss ever to be broadcast on television
The history of LGBTQ+ rights is long and complex, with homosexuality considered illegal in the United Kingdom until 1967. Even then, for a long time, relations between two men were only to be enacted in private, with the age of consent being raised to 21.
Over in the United States, laws have differed from state to state, with Illinois becoming the first to decriminalise homosexuality in 1962. The fight for gay rights in the US became more prominent after the Stonewall riots in 1969, and it wasn’t until 2015 that gay marriage became legal across every state.
These days, while homosexuality is still illegal in certain countries, it is also more accepted than ever in other areas, with many production companies making movies and television shows centring around gay characters and issues. While it is important to note that there is still plenty of progress to be made, it is vital we celebrate the milestones in the history of gay visibility on screen, helping many queer people to feel validated and represented.
Most current mainstream movies and television shows don’t hesitate to depict gay kissing or sex, but this didn’t become normal until the 1990s. Before then, it was often controversial for two men or women to be filmed in a sexual or romantic context, as many people had not adjusted to the idea of homosexuality being normal and socially acceptable.
Due to the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967, gay kisses were shown on television for the first time, although this wasn’t without complaints from viewers.
When was the first gay kiss on television?
In 1970, a performance of Edward II by William Shakespeare was broadcast on British television, which featured a kiss between Ian McKellen and James Laurenson. Discussing the moment, McKellen told Amol Rajan for a BBC Two interview, “We had a passionate kiss, James Laurenson and I, for which I’m always grateful, and it was broadcast by the BBC.”
He added, “I’ve heard from people I shall never meet saying I’m so grateful to you for that kiss which I was watching in Indiana with my parents and we had a good conversation about it afterwards and I’m now a happily married gay man…So it was wonderful.”
In 1979, a gay kiss appeared on the Play for Today television play Coming Out, directed by Carol Wiseman. However, the first gay kiss on a British soap came in 1989, when Colin and Guido kissed on EastEnders. At the time, Section 28 had recently been instated, which banned the “promotion of homosexuality.” Piers Morgan criticised the kiss in The Sun, exclaiming that the scene was “screened in the early evening when millions of children were watching.”
As for the first lesbian kiss on television, that was achieved in 1974, when Alison Steadman and Myra Frances shared a smooch on the show Girl. Interestingly, lesbianism has never been illegal in the United Kingdom, although that didn’t stop some viewers from being shocked at what they were witnessing.
Steadman revealed in an interview with The Guardian, “Looking back, it seems ridiculous that anyone made a fuss. No one gives a damn now. Men kissing, women kissing, it’s all fine, thank goodness. I only realised it was the first lesbian kiss after it aired. The next one wasn’t until Brookside 20 years later.”
In the United States, it took until 2000 for a “passionate” gay kiss to be shown between two men. The first kiss between two women occurred in 1991’s L.A. Law, but the first male gay kiss didn’t come until the turn of the millennium when Kerr Smith and Andy Kaufman kissed on Dawson’s Creek.
Since then, it has become normal for gay kisses to appear on mainstream television, yet it sadly took a long time for this to become commonplace.
