The Rainbow Campaign

[Perry]

Once again (OK this is the first time) I have taken it upon myself to make sure the Home and Away producers do the right thing by its fans. Former script producer Coral Drouyn said it herself;

HAA SHOULD have a gay character. I tried several times but it ended up a debacle. It won’t happen while the present hierarchy is in place.

Now lets see to it that we let them know what we want.

If you think Home and Away should have a regular gay character, please do us a favour and show us your support by sending anything rainbow to the producers. ANd make sure you let them know what it's for.

Send Rainbows to:

ATT: Cameron Welsh

C/O Home and Away

Channel Seven Studios

Mobbs Lane

Epping NSW, 2121

[Traceve]

Thank You! I shall be sending rainbows.

[Eli]

Great idea, I'll make them a pretty rainbow-card

[emmasi]

Not only that, but a list of suggestions on who should get together

[Perry]

Thankyou all for the support...Love yous lotes!

[emmasi]

My letter, for to inspire others

. Forgive the title!

A GAY IN THE BAY!

It is time for a regular gay character on Home and Away. Someone nice, someone normal, someone who the Summer Bay residents and viewers alike would be glad to have in their lives. The character(s) don’t have to be perfect, but it would be good if they weren’t trying to kill, stalk, or force themselves on anyone.

Henry Hunter is, to me, the most obvious candidate for a gay character. He never had a love interest, which is unheard of for any teenager in Home and Away, but he was very close to Ric, and he later developed an interest in Diesel - more so when Diesel himself was suspected of being gay. There have recently been calls for Henry to be written back into the show so that Mattie has a close family member to bond with, and it would not be undoing his character if he were to be brought back as gay. Most viewers also feel that if a recast is necessary for whatever reason, then enough time has passed for that to work.

It may also be wise to consider bringing back Mattie’s friend Dean. We already know he’s gay, and last we heard he was happy with his boyfriend, Gareth. But if one or both of them were brought back at the same time as Henry, this could create a potential love-triangle. Just because a character is gay doesn’t mean there is nowhere for their storylines to go romantically.

Another factor towards the success of a gay storyline right now is a character like Geoff Campbell. He is extremely religious, and would more than likely show intolerance towards someone who “chooses” to be gay. It could be a great way of voicing the concerns of conservative viewers within the show, so that they’re feelings aren’t ignored, but hopefully changed through Geoff’s eventual understanding that being gay is not evil, it’s just the way some people are. To that end, I’d also like to submit that Geoff himself might be gay or at least bi-curious. Ideally, Aden Jeffries would be attracted to him (the root of all his tormenting), and make a move, leaving Geoff deeply confused as to what to do about it. If it turned out that Geoff felt something for Aden in return, then that could be a way to show that it doesn’t matter what morals you’re raised with, you can’t deny your true feelings. That’s a classic soap theme anyway. If not, simply see above.

I’ve been watching the show for five years, and in that time I’ve seen dozens of opportunities for great homosexual characters, crushes, and romances go begging. There have been homosexual themes, but they always seem to revolve around evil deeds, and/or the characters getting shuffled off or permanently separated if any of it becomes too real. Robbie and Kim were (are) my favourite non-couple, and although it’s far too late for them, there is still plenty of opportunity to learn from past mistakes by recognising characters that have same-sex chemistry, and USE it!

You have the power

[claire_louise]

This has been discussed a bit in the Tim Campbell coming out thread, and I do support what you're all trying to do, but like I said in there I'm not sure they should do a gay storyline if they can't tackle it properly (because of the timeslot). A gay character would ultimately have to have a gay relationship - would they be able to cover that successfully within the restrictions? To be honest, being in the uk I don't know much about what they can and can't do, but if they couldn't even use the word 'rape' in the Dani/Kane storyline I'm guessing the limits are pretty tight?

[Eli]

I get what you mean, claire louise. I still think it's worth a try though, "be the change you want to see in the world" (Gandhi) I realise that Seven probably won't do something that isn't good for them, but I think it's time we spoke up and told them that people are waiting for something like this. Together I believe we can make a difference, and if nothing else, maybe in a few years or so many enough will have reacted and spoke up for the TV stations and the people deciding these things to see that maybe there's time for a change

I'm gonna send my card anyway, it might not make a difference and it might not change the world, but hopefully together we can change at least a small part of the world, and if there's a chance it can then I definitely think it's worth a try

[MarMar]

I think it might be a bit too easy to just say that nothing will change. The show has changed since the Kane/Dani-storyline and it will continue to do o because the world is changing. The show has developed since it began in 1988.

I think a campaign like this might make a difference, if enough people are involved. See what happened after the "go nuts"-campaign to get "Jericho" back!

[Drew]

This has been discussed a bit in the Tim Campbell coming out thread, and I do support what you're all trying to do, but like I said in there I'm not sure they should do a gay storyline if they can't tackle it properly (because of the timeslot). A gay character would ultimately have to have a gay relationship - would they be able to cover that successfully within the restrictions? To be honest, being in the uk I don't know much about what they can and can't do, but if they couldn't even use the word 'rape' in the Dani/Kane storyline I'm guessing the limits are pretty tight?

That was back when 7pm was a G-rated timeslot. It's now a PG where H&A have now tackled bigger stories, most of them from Dan B's era.

If I remember correctly, Neighbours did the lesbian storyline with Sky and that other chick. From memory, that storyline worked well, better then what H&A could do, and they can do more in a PG timeslot.

I reckon a gay character could work in the Bay, they don't neccesarily need to be in a relationship, it would just be good to see a part of every culture part of the Bay (although there's no africans, asians etc, but you get the point). It also helps the younger generations to be more accepting and also the older generations to see the ups and downs homosexual people go through. It's not all about the sex, they probably go through worse then straight people with their fear of hiding who they are and worried that they'll be outcasts if they were ever to reveal their true colours... I'm not sure where I'm now going with this, but a gay character in the Bay WOULD push new limits, for all good reasons. Being gay is part of our society in the 21st century, if H&A like to stay in the past then **** them.

I'll be sending my rainbow