Home and Away are planning to introduce a storyline involving two of it characters starting a lesbian love affair. This has caused outrage amongst some family groups.
The start of their relationship is due to air this month in Australia between Police women Charlie Buckton (Esther Anderson) and female deck hand Joey Collins (Kate Bell). Conservative family groups have expressed their disgust and feel its completely inappropriate for this story line to be adopted within the shows 7pm PG rated time slot.
Pro-Family Perspectives director Angela Conway said:-
“Home And Away continue to market to kids and they continue to develop quite sexualised plot lines. The plot lines that young kids and teenagers should be presented with should be about really authentic relationships that are not just sexualised.”
Esther Anderson, playing part of the lesbian duo defended Home And Away saying:
“You learn pretty much everything at school. I don’t think it’s like I’m lifting the lid on something they don’t already know about.
“To me there’s no difference - love’s love. The fact that your partner’s the same sex is no different. You just want to be loved.”
Its isn’t the first time Australia soaps have had problems with lesbian plot lines. In 2004, Neighbours was in trouble with similar groups when they aired a lesbian kiss between schoolgirls Lana Crawford (Bridget Neval) and Sky Mangel (Stephanie McIntosh).