Interesting Quote from Y&R Writer

Now that I'm all caught up with Kish, both Nuke and the Y&R characters are on the horizon. However, it seems like I may not have to worry about catching up with the latter show at all. AfterElton has a new post wondering if the show is de-gaying itself after co-head writer Scott Hammer said the following:

“At this point, we are not doing a gay story, and we never actually were doing a gay story. What we were playing with Rafe was the lengths to which Adam will go to accomplish his goals. And what we were really seeing was that he would stop at nothing. And, at this point, I don't see a future for Rafe and Adam."

Well, it became clear to me fairly quickly that there was no long term future in Rafe & Adam, but I thought that there would still be a future for Rafe and someone else, whether it was the newly alive and out Philip or somebody completely new.

Does this mean that Rafe will just fade away, as so many gay characters not connected to core families (and at least one who was, General Hospital's Lucas) have in the past? Will the same happen to Philip?

I hope The Young and the Restless isn't backing away from groundbreaking story telling, but I honestly wouldn't be all that stunned if it turned out that they were. Then again, I was very surprised that they decided to introduce gay characters at all, so maybe they'll shock me again by giving Rafe and/or Philip a serious love interest.

Y&R: Family Matters

On today's The Young and the Restless, Philip and his son Chance finally met for that cup of coffee that they'd arranged to have at the start of the week. It began as awkwardly as you'd expect, with Philip clearly nervous and Chance still referring to his father rather coldly as 'Sir'.

Chance suggested they start with Philip telling him why he'd left. His father explained that it had come down to a choice between going off to find his truth or staying and living a lie. Chance asked why he couldn't have found his truth in Genoa City and Philip told him that he was gay.

If Philip expected an explosive reaction to his revelation, he didn't get one. Chance didn't seem bothered at all about finding out his father was gay, but he was perplexed as to how Philip being gay explained making his family think he was dead for twenty years. I can see where he'd be confused by that, since it's not part of your typical coming out process! I still haven't heard a reasonable explanation for why he didn't just leave and move to New York or San Francisco or anywhere else in the world.

Philip told his son that it was difficult for younger people to understand the way the world was back then, that there was a lot less acceptance and gay pride (definitely true, but we're still talking about 1989, not 1959!), and on top of all of that, he had all the expectations of his position in the Chancellor family weighing him down and was just trying to play a role, one that he could only play with the help of a lot of alcohol.

Chance said it sounded like Philip was going through a lot back then, but nothing could explain the fact that he'd had a wife and a child that he'd abandoned, that he'd run from his responsibilities. Chance wouldn't be able to live with himself if he ever did the same.

Philip said he hoped Chance was never faced with such an impossible choice himself and Chance pointed out that Philip had obviously come out to the family since his return and no one was trying to drive him out of it. How impossible a choice could it have been?

Philip agreed that they may have accepted him twenty years ago, but at the time his fear had told him they wouldn't. He'd known he could never be the husband or father his family needed, but when Chance protested that he'd never even tried, Philip said he had, in the beginning, telling Chance that he'd fed him, changed him, and held him when he cried.

Chance dismissed this by saying they'll never know how things might have turned out if Philip had stayed, and Philip FINALLY apologized to someone for his actions, telling Chance he was sorry that he'd left him, but then he quickly tried to shift blame again, saying that maybe if he'd had a mother like Chance did in Nina, things might have been different.

Chance did thank Philip for being brave enough to come back and be tested for Huntington's Disease, especially knowing all that he'd be facing by doing so. Philip said he hadn't been brave, he'd just been trying to be a father.

They wrapped up the conversation with Philip telling Chance that he didn't have to leave Genoa City if Chance wanted him to stick around. Chance didn't really respond to that, though, so Philip shook his hand and told him to let him know.

After meeting with his son, Philip went to see his mother, Jill. They talked about the meeting with Chance and Philip said that he couldn't tell if his son was burying his rage or just didn't care at all about him. Jill recalled how she used to tell herself that Philip's anger at her at least proved he'd cared.

Philip then brought up his abandoning of his son and claimed it was part of a family pattern of putting his own needs before his child's. Jill went on the defensive, pointing out that she'd sent him to boarding school for a few years, yes, but she hadn't left his life completely or let him think she was dead!

Philip said that he wasn't trying to lay blame (yeah, right), but instead wanted to begin healing their dysfunctional family, starting with forgiving her for the past and letting her know that he knew she'd been the best mother she'd been able to be. It ended up being the first real mother/son scene the two have had since Philip's return.

Meanwhile, Chance was meeting with his own mother. Nina asked how things had gone with Philip and Chance told her he'd found out the guy was gay. Nina asked how he was feeling about that and Chance said it didn't make any difference to him. Nina pointed out that Philip was still his father and Chance admitted that the only reason he'd even agreed to meet with the guy was because he thought Nina was still in love with him. Now that that wasn't the case.... The look on Nina's face, though, brought Chance up short and he asked her to confirm that she wasn't still in love with Philip.

Nina confessed that Philip had been the love of her life and even with all that she'd found out recently, he still was. Chance was clearly not pleased to hear this.

Well, I've wanted to see a scene where a parent comes out to their child on a soap for some time now, and we finally got one. Of course, the way I imagined it, the parent wouldn't have been a stranger to the child to begin with. That added a whole different dynamic to the story and still leaves another sort of parent coming out to child story to be told by some other soap.

Chance's non-reaction may mean he really isn't bothered by Philip's sexuality or it may just be a part of his overall attitude towards Philip, which is cold at best. Time will tell how okay he actually is with this piece of news.

Slow Week So Far; Kish Interview

So far, this has been a pretty quiet week in the world of LGBT soap characters. The only real action was on The Young and the Restless on Monday, when Philip decided it was time for him to get back to his life in Australia.

Nina tried to convince him to stay in Genoa City so their son Chance could have the opportunity to get to know him. Philip felt that Chance could look him up in Sydney when he was ready to find out more, but Nina warned that if he walked out of Chance's life again, that would be the end of it.

They discussed how well their son had turned out and Philip said he'd had very little to do with that, but Nina said that she often saw Philip in a look or a gesture of Chance's. After a bit of flirting with a waiter, Philip asked if Nina had told Chance he was gay yet and she told him not to worry about that, saying again that he'd be fine with it.

Later, Nina asked Chance to consider taking the opportunity to get to know his father, saying that she didn't necessarily expect him to form a life long bond, but that for all his faults Philip was warm, funny, and kind hearted. Chance said it sounded like Nina had forgiven Philip and she explained that she's trying not to judge him too harshly and she just hopes her son will do the same.

Shortly afterward, Chance called to ask Philip if they could get together the next day and Philip happily agreed and cancelled his plane reservation. Chance, meanwhile, told Chloe that he'd called Philip for his mom's sake: she was still in love with the guy.

That's been about it as far as onscreen action this week. Offscreen, One Life to Live's Brett Claywell (who plays Kyle) and Scott Evans (who plays Fish) gave an interview to Out.Com about Kish:

Brett, you’re from Greensboro, North Carolina, which isn’t necessarily the most gay-friendly of states. I know that’s a generalization but --
BC: It is a generalization but it’s absolutely the truth. Like I said before, when I began this storyline, I had to go through all the emotions of this story including calling my father to let him know who and what I was playing on One Life. So in reality, it was like I was coming out to my parents. There have been a lot of real emotions that have tied my reality and [the show’s locale] Llanview together.

Hopefully, your casting and talent will help change people’s perceptions down south.
BC: That’s the entire purpose of this storyline. When I spoke to our executive producer, Frank Valentini, about this character, I said my intent was to make Kyle the homosexual next door -- who doesn’t fit any stereotype, who just happens to have a different sexual preference.

It’s ironic that Scott, who is out in real life, is playing the character in the closet and Brett, who is straight in real life, is playing the out-and-proud gay character --
SE: I think it’s ironic but some of the dialogue and scenes I’m playing out have happened to real-life people I know, so it’s easy in a way. I’ve seen the struggle up close and personal.
BC: I think the fact that Scott is an out gay man makes the dynamic between us more effective because it’s almost like I’m putting myself in Scott’s shoes, so it allows us to understand each other better.

Check out the whole interview. Everything I read about Scott Evans makes me love the guy even more. It's ridiculous, by the way, that One Life to Live still has not signed him to a contract! Recurring was one thing when he was just the sweet, bumbling cop who didn't really have a story of his own, but now that he's one half of Kish, they'd be foolish not to show him the dotted line.

Y&R: Like a Virgin

I was hoping for some more Rafe & Adam on today's The Young and the Restless, but no such luck. We did have a few scenes with Philip and Chance, though.

Chance showed up at Crimson Lights, the local coffee place, with Katherine and Chloe. He'd just finished telling them that being in Iraq had made him realize that he had to cherish all the time he could get with the people he loved when Philip showed up and asked to speak with his son privately. Philip felt that Chance must have a lot of questions to ask him.

Chance, still addressing his father as "Sir", said he didn't have any questions and that if he did, he'd just ask his mother. Philip said he'd like his son to hear his side of the story from him, but Katherine pulled him aside to advise him to back off and give Chance time. The only father he'd ever known was another husband of Nina's, Ryan (who is dead now) and Philip couldn't expect him to just welcome him with open arms after all he'd done.

After Katherine left, Philip attempted to talk to Chance again, but his son told him that since he'd 'died' when he was a baby, Chance never knew him, never missed him, and that Philip just has no bearing on his life at all now.

Philip left, leaving Chance alone with Chloe. During their conversation, Chance revealed that he'd never had a girlfriend. Chloe made a comment about meaningless hook ups and Chance told her that he wasn't into those, either: he's a virgin!

Chloe couldn't believe that he'd go off to war without ever having had sex and asked if it was a religious thing, or if he was gay. Chance said no to both (and didn't seem to be at all bothered that someone might think him gay, which could be a good sign for when he finds out about Philip) and explained that it had just never happened and he wasn't going to pay for it or do it with someone who means nothing to him just so he can say he's done it.

Chloe, impressed with meeting her first hot male virgin, wasted no time in kissing Chance, saying that he'd never been kissed right if he hadn't wanted to take things further.

That was really all that happened today and it was more about Chance than it was Philip. It doesn't look like they'll be bonding any time soon, but Nina may have been right that Philip's sexuality won't be an issue with his son.

Y&R: Two In One

First up, last Friday's episode of The Young and the Restless, which picked up where Thursday's show left off, with the surprise return of Philip Chancellor IV from his tour of duty in Iraq. On Friday, once he'd received the effusive greeting from the women in his life and told them he now goes by the nickname Chance (which will spare us from having to say III or IV to differentiate between Philips, at least), he spotted his not so dead father across the room.

At first, I assumed that his mother, Nina, had already filled him in, since he didn't show the slightest bit of shock, but instead just called out an almost angry sounding "You!" As we soon found out, though, Chance had no clue that his father was still alive until he saw him standing there, yet he remained completely unemotional about it, to the point of shaking Philip's hand and telling him that it was nice to meet him.

Chance noted that he'd seen a lot of people die but never seen someone come back: what was Philip's secret? Katherine quickly changed the subject, saying that they could talk about that later. Chance did make a few more mild inquiries, like how long Philip had been in town, did anyone else in the family know he was alive before this, and who was Cane, really?, but he remained oddly detached.

In the middle of all of this, Philip got the call letting him know that he was not a carrier of Huntington's Disease, which meant that Chance couldn't have it, either.

Later, after Chance had left the room, Nina, Jill and Katherine discussed the soldier's calm attitude and attributed it his military training. They also talked about telling him the truth and Philip interrupted to tell them to back off:

"Don't rush him, don't fix him. Let the kid be. I mean it, I don't want you driving him away, like you drove me away."

Oh, man. Get over yourself!

That was all that happened on Friday, but it was a bit surprising, to say the least, to see Chance have basically no reaction at all to finding out his father was very much alive.

On to today's show. Philip showed up at the Chancellor mansion to see Nina and his son, only to find himself crashing his half brother Billy's birthday party. Since they hadn't had a chance to talk since Philip's resurrection, Billy took the opportunity to tell his brother that he understood the pressures he'd been facing and had escaped them himself, just in a different way. At this point, of course, Billy doesn't know that his brother left because he's gay.

Nina suggested that she, Philip, and Chance have lunch together, but Chance quickly bowed out, telling them that he was still tired and had some unpacking to do. After Nina and Philip left, Chance got to know his Uncle Billy's ex, Chloe, who asked him what he thought of his Dad and if he had any memories of him from before he 'died'.

Chance told her that having just met the guy, he doesn't have an opinion one way or the other about him.

Over lunch, Philip told Nina that since Chance would barely look at him he was either hiding a deep anger towards him or just had no interest in getting to know his father at all. Nina asked Philip to give Chance time, saying that he'd come around. Philip wondered how Chance would react to finding out that, on top of everything else, his father was gay. Nina assured him that their son would be okay with it, but Philip seemed unconvinced.

That was all, two pretty low key episodes as far as this story goes. It will be interesting to see where they go from here with Chance. His detachment is a twist I didn't expect, so I'm curious to see what it's leading up to. I'm also hoping to see Chance dealing with having just returned from war, since no one comes back from combat and blithely resumes their former life without any issues.

Y&R: What a Jerk!

At the start of today's episode of The Young and the Restless, Jill, Nina, and Katherine were discussing the Philip situation again. Jill was more willing to be understanding after some time to think if over: how often did someone get a second chance like this? Katherine was still bitter about Philip taking the coward's way out and leaving them to suffer with guilt and grief for twenty years. Nina, meanwhile, was just sort of playing referee between the two.

Philip soon showed up to let them know that he'd been tested for Huntington's disease and would have the results later in the day. His son may have the disease, but had left to serve in the military without being tested, not wanting to face it. The main reason that Nina wanted to exhume Philip's body in the first place was to test it to see if he's a carrier for the genetic disease; if he's not, then their son doesn't have it.

Katherine congratulated Philip on standing up for his son and asked when he was going to do so for the rest of the family. After some more arguing, Philip admitted that Katherine was right: he hadn't had faith in his family. However, he said he wouldn't apologize because if he had it to do over again, he'd probably do the same thing.

What?! Okay, I officially don't like Philip very much at this point. He's pretty much a selfish jerk right now. Hopefully we'll start to see something more develop with the character soon.

Katherine felt much the same way I did at his remark, telling him it was a 'vicious slap in the face' to all of them. Even Nina couldn't let his words pass, finding the fact that he'd choose to abandon his son all over again if he had the choice unforgivable.

There was some more talk of what he'd done to them all and some more protests from Philip that he hadn't had any other choice because he hadn't fell safe coming out to them. Again, I feel for his motivations, but not his decision or the fact that he's still completely unrepentant twenty years later.

At that point, Cane showed up to say goodbye to Jill, the woman who'd thought she was his mother for the last couple of years, and to Katherine, who'd thought for awhile that she was his grandmother. Philip tried to get Jill and Katherine to see that Cane wasn't a bad guy and that they shouldn't let him just leave, but Cane was literally forgotten by them all when a hunky soldier in army fatigues walked in the door.

Yes, Philip Chancellor IV made his debut at last, swarmed with hugs and greetings from his mother, grandmother and Katherine while the father he's never know watched from across the room. I can't really say what emotion Philip III was feeling, since his face wore the same expression it always seems to, but presumably we'll see some drama between the two tomorrow.

I do have to say that one look at Philip IV in his uniform made me wish that the rumors of a Philip IV/Rafe pairing had proven true! Then again, daytime has done stories where fathers and sons romance the same woman, so why not a Philip III/Rafe/Philip IV love triangle? Now that would be groundbreaking!

Y&R: Coming Out Party

The coming out process for Philip Chancellor III continued on today's The Young and the Restless. Last week, he came out to his 'widow' Nina and I was looking forward to seeing her reaction, beyond the initial moment of shock. Sadly, though, we picked up with the story after the fact and Nina already seems to be more or less okay with things. In today's episode, she stood by Philip like a supportive friend and I have to admit, I feel a bit cheated out of a good scene or two!

At any rate, on today's show Nina let slip to Philip's mother Jill and his... well, Katherine is his late father's widow and a sort of secondary mother figure to him, I guess you could say. Anyway, Nina let slip that there were circumstances that the two of them didn't know yet about him faking his death, but wouldn't elaborate further, saying it was Philip's story to tell.

Katherine, who'd had a mini stroke when Philip showed up alive after twenty years, was being released from the hospital, so Nina headed to the Chancellor mansion ahead of her and Jill and told Philip that he had to tell them the truth.

Philip didn't think the truth would help all that much and sarcastically asked Nina if knowing had brought her any peace. Nina said it had helped her to understand that things were more complicated than she'd thought.

Jill and Katherine returned at that point and Nina left Philip no choice in the matter when she asked them if they'd like to sit down and hear the full story of why Philip spiraled out of control twenty years ago.

Jill asked her son to please explain whatever it was that would help them accept what he'd done and Philip wondered if they could possibly imagine anything that would really make it okay. Jill said she just wanted to hear what he had to say and Philip wryly told her that she wouldn't want to hear this.

Nina: Philip, will you just stop this? All right, it's no big deal. Just tell them. You owe them that much.

Katherine: Nina, it's more of the same. Now, he went away and left us to believe that he was dead. And now he's taunting us with some sort of secret. You know, I've had enough of your games young man-

Philip: I was never gonna be the man that you wanted me to be! I would never make you happy. I wasn't going to be the son or the heir that you wanted because Philip Chancellor III couldn't possibly be gay!

Katherine looked shocked, but it was the look on Jill's face that was truly priceless, as was the inflection she used when she responded with the single word "Gay?"

Philip explained that his sexuality was a big part of the reason that he'd left and then sarcastically asked if he was magically forgiven now that they knew he was gay.

Jill: I just don't understand how this could be. I mean, how could you have hidden this from us? Why would you want to?

Philip: It was the late 80's and I was young. I was trapped in who I was supposed to be, who I was pretending to be...

Katherine pointed out that he'd had a child with Nina and Philip explained that they'd had sex on a night in which he was drunk enough to believe that he could be who he was expected to be. Katherine realized that his drinking had been to cover up all his deceit and Jill quickly corrected her, saying it was confusion, not deceit.

Philip: I wasn't confused about being gay. I knew who I was. And I knew that I had to hide it, being a Chancellor.

Katherine: For Heaven's sake, we're not bumpkins Philip! I mean, you could have trusted us!

Philip: You want to believe that you would have been fine with it, I know you do. But you wouldn't have been. It was a different time. Genoa City is conservative. No, no, you would not have been okay with it. If I'd stayed here, it wouldn't have worked.

At that point, Nina brought up Christine, the woman that Philip had supposedly been in love with when Nina trapped him into marriage. Philip explained that loving Christine had been his last attempt to prove that he could be who he was expected to be, but there had come a point when he couldn't ignore that he wanted to be with a man.

Jill: Honey, did you have... was there ever anyone in your life?

Philip: A lover? No. No one. Every day I ached with loneliness. I couldn't have survived it. As long as I stayed here, I had no life.

Katherine asked why Philip hadn't just moved away. Interestingly, that question was left unanswered as the topic shifted to why Philip had sent Cane in his place all these years later. Moving away, of course, is the option that many LGBT people in Philip's situation end up taking and I would have been interested to hear them explain why Philip didn't just do that himself. The real reason, of course, is that this is a soap and when he left twenty years ago, the character was meant to actually be dead! Still, I'd have liked to see what reason Philip had for not just heading to New York or San Francisco or, with his money, any city in the world!

Jill: Katherine is right. You were punishing us, and not for anything we did. You just assumed we would reject you.

Philip: Some things never change! You know, I'm telling you how I felt and you're telling me that this is wrong. It's all about you!... I didn't leave because I wanted to leave, I left because I was forced to leave, because I couldn't be what you guys wanted. I knew that I didn't fit in here. I wasn't the son, I wasn't the father, I wasn't the husband that you guys wanted. I was just too unsure, I was no good to this family.

Katherine: You shut us out, not the other way around.

Jill: You didn't even give us a chance!

Katherine: Now come on, be honest. Why can't you be honest? If you'd have told us, you could have helped us learn to accept who you were. You could have! You took the coward's way out young man, that's what you did.

That really gets to the heart of the matter. So many young LGBT people face this decision (minus the faking of their deaths, of course!). What Philip has described is a situation that many closeted people over the years have faced and are still facing today. Being caught between the expectations of your family and community and wanting to be the person you really are, the one who is so different from what's expected.

Many LGBT people choose a Philip like option, of starting over somewhere else, somewhere more accepting. Others stay trapped in a life that isn't really what they want. More and more these days, though, the third option is coming out to your family and changing their expectations, as Katherine pointed out that Philip himself could have done.

That's far easier said than done in many cases, of course. I really hope this story is making some of the show's viewers think about their own expectations towards their children and how their assumptions may be causing them pain.

As far as Philip goes, it's hard to feel the sympathy for him that we're supposed to feel, mostly because what he did was so extreme, but also because he's not coming across as genuinely feeling all that sorry about it. True, his sarcasm about the truth making him magically forgiven shows us that he probably does know how wrong he was, but actions speak louder than words and nothing I'm seeing is making it seem like he's all that sorry. He's still blaming his family for forcing him to fake his death.

It would be a lot easier if we could get a better sense of just how tortured he was back then, and how haunted he's been ever since by what he did to his family. I'm hoping we're heading for a scene when Philip realizes that he should have at least given his family a chance. I wish he'd come back feeling that way, after twenty years to think it over, because right now he's coming across more like a selfish jerk than anything else.

Still, this is a very interesting story so far and there should be a lot of good stuff to come, what with Philip still having a son to come out to at some point.

Coming Out on Y&R

I thought all of Tuesday's soaps had been pre-empted by the coverage of the Michael Jackson memorial service, but I just discovered that my local CBS station did air The Young and the Restless. Luckily for me, they aired it during As The World Turns' regular time slot, so my Tivo recorded it.

Tuesday was a pretty big day on the show: another character came out of the closet as gay, bringing the grand total of current LGBT roles on daytime soaps to an all time high of eight characters spread out over four soaps. This doesn't include Y&R's Adam, who may or may not be bisexual, even if he is sleeping with Rafe. When Forbes March debuts on ATWT, the number will go up to nine, though of course we'll be losing Guiding Light's Olivia and Natalia in September.

The latest gay character is none other than Philip Chancellor III, played by openly gay actor Thom Bierdz, and on Tuesday's show he came out to his 'widow', Nina.

First, some background. Back in the late 80's, Philip was a wealthy young alcoholic who'd been more or less trapped into marriage by Nina, whom he'd gotten pregnant while he was drunk. He was also facing all the pressures of being an heir to the Chancellor fortune while dealing with his personal demons.

Then, twenty years ago, Philip lost his life in a drunk driving accident, leaving behind a grieving family that included his wife and his young son, Philip Chancellor IV.

Flash forward to a few years ago, when Philip's family learned that there had been a baby switch. The Philip they'd known, loved and lost hadn't been the real Philip Chancellor III. It turned out that a man named Cane, who'd been raised in Australia, was the real Philip. In the years since, he's been living in Genoa City with his long lost family.

Recently, though, Philip's widow Nina returned to town and began asking questions and digging into Cane's story. Before long, Nina was having Philip's grave exhumed and it turned out that his coffin was filled with sandbags. Testing soon proved that there had never even been a body in the coffin to begin with.

Cane ended up taking another DNA test to prove that he was the real Philip, but he switched his fresh vial of blood with one he'd taken from a freezer. The test proved that the blood was from the son of Philip's mother Jill, but further testing revealed that the blood had been frozen.

In true soap fashion, this all lead to a confrontation on last Friday's episode. Nina got Cane to finally admit in front of everyone that he wasn't Jill's son and when Katherine Chancellor demanded to know how he could do this to people who'd shown him nothing but kindness, a voice from off camera called out that Cane hadn't done it- "I did." It was, of course, Philip Chancellor III speaking, in one of those over the top but delicious Friday cliffhanger moments.

On Monday, Philip explained to his family how the 'accident' he'd been in twenty years ago was no accident at all: he'd tried to kill himself. When it hadn't worked, he'd used his fortune to fake his death so that he could escape the life he felt so trapped in and had started over again in Australia.

Feeling guilty years later, he'd tried to heal the family he left behind by concocting the baby switch story and sending them Cane, a good man who could be the Philip Chancellor he himself was never able to be.

Tuesday's show saw Nina and Philip having it out, with Nina demanding to know how Philip could just leave her and their son behind to suffer, to go on believing he was dead. Philip told Nina that if he'd loved her and their child less, he could have stayed, but as it was he just couldn't bear to stay and see them be so let down by him.

Nina: ... What was so awful that you couldn't talk to us about it?

Philip: Back then, I couldn't have been honest with you.

Nina: Why?

Philip: I felt ashamed.

Nina: And you thought that I wouldn't understand shame?

Philip: Not mine.

Nina: Because of the drinking?

Philip: No, the drinking, that was just a symptom. That wasn't the cause of it.

Nina: Well then what? You said that you felt like you were letting us down, but you weren't.

Philip: Oh, I knew what was expected of me. I did what was expected, but I was acting a part.

Nina: You felt trapped?

Philip: Yeah.

Nina: In the marriage?

Philip: In my own skin. That's what you guys have to understand. Before anything else, this is not about you, it's not about Mom, it's not about Katherine, this is about me. It's about the truth that I've been hiding all this time.

Nina: What truth?

Philip: I'm gay. I've always been gay.

That's where we left things, with Nina's mouth hanging open in shock. I can't wait to see how she deals with the news, and how the rest of Philip's family deals with this revelation on top of having him turn up alive after twenty years.

It will also be very interesting to see how the son he doesn't really know, Philip IV (soon to be played by John Driscoll), takes the news. Philip IV is currently in the military and it will be fascinating to see a parent come out to their child on daytime TV for a change! I've wished for such a story before, with an older gay character instead of a teen or twenty something. It makes it even more interesting to have it be a character that the audience knew twenty years ago.

Where will things go for Philip from here? Will he stick around, find a love interest? The rumor that he'll be paired with Rafe certainly seems more likely now than it did before he came out.

Most of all, I love this sudden explosion of gay characters on the soaps! I think we owe it all to the popularity of Luke & Noah with fans. I think it really showed the powers that be that daytime audiences would be very open to LGBT stories and romances.

Of course, it didn't fully start with Luke and Noah, either. There would have been no Luke without All My Children's Bianca paving the way, and there were several minor gay characters on the soaps over the years leading up to her, the first major LGBT character from a core family. It has been a long process, but we're finally seeing it start to pay off in a big way.

I just wish Days of Our Lives and The Bold and the Beautiful would get with it! They remain the only two soaps that have never had a major gay character, while General Hospital and All My Children have but are currently LGBT free.

Wesley Eure Comes Out

This week, AfterElton had an exclusive coming out interview with 70's TV heartthrob Wesley Eure, who was on Days of Our Lives from 1974-1981 playing Mike Horton. He was also on the classic 70's Saturday morning show Land of the Lost.

Eure's run on Days was before my time (the first Mike Horton I remember was played by Michael T. Weiss in the late 80's) but I've heard much about him from fans of the show who are a bit older than me and still remember loving him in the role.

Wesley has a lot of interesting things to say in the Q&A, but this part especially interested me:

AE: Do you think being gay hurt your career?
WE: Absolutely. It was a horrible time in Hollywood, being gay. It was horrible. I was on the cover of Tiger Beat and all those a lot, and they'd do those "Win A Date With Wesley" and "Who's Wesley Dating?" It was so disingenuous. I had a full life. I've had a lot of friends and some pretty high profile partners, and it was an odd thing. I got fired from Days of Our Lives for being gay.

AE: Is that right?
WE: That's what I was told. I mean, they told me a lot of different reasons. After nine years, my contract was up, but I was hosting the number one show for Nickelodeon, Finders Keepers. It was on cable, but this was before everybody had Nickelodeon. Mark Summers was doing Double Dare. I was getting bigger ratings than Mark. I became the number one host for kids for two seasons, and then we heard the show was being sold to Fox. Everybody else was celebrating and I went, "Oh, no. I'm out of a job." Sure enough. I waited, I kept calling, "Am I hosting the show?" They wouldn't answer the question, and then I got the call they went with somebody younger.

I knew Fox and NBC were run by gay men at the time, but what was odd about the industry at the time, it was amazing how the gay men were perpetuating the damage. I remember Earl Greenburg — who was a big philanthropist here in Palm Springs, and had the Desert AIDS Project, he did some wonderful work, he's passed away now this last year — but the first time I saw him in Palm Springs, he said, "Didn't I fire you?" He was head of NBC Daytime at the time.

AE: And what did you say when he said that?
WE: [laughs] I said, "You're an ass."

I've written before about how mandatory the closet that LGBT soap stars find themselves living in is, even now, so I have no trouble believing that Days of Our Lives fired Eure 28 years ago for being too open about his sexuality.

The saddest part, though, is that Eure wasn't very out at all. Reading the interview, it's obvious that he while was very out in his personal life, including with the cast and crew of Days, he was very closeted publicly (a situation that most LGBT soap stars today would find very familiar).

Nearly thirty years after Eure was let go from the show, there is an all time high of out LGBT actors & actresses working in daytime: a grand total of three. Sad as that number is, just a few months ago, there was only one. Clementine Ford & Thom Bierdz on The Young and the Restless and Scott Evans on One Life to Live are the only three out daytime stars, though they're far from being the only LGBT onscreen talent working in the medium.

Ford & Bierdz will be involved in major storylines this summer on Y&R and Evans seems to be showing up more and more often in his recurring role as Oliver Fish on OLTL. Hopefully, the ability of these three actors to be out and still maintain a career in daytime will encourage others to follow their example and help push the door to the daytime closet open a bit further.

It would be wonderful if a young actor (or actress) like Eure was could come out at the height of his career (or be out from the very start, for that matter) without having to worry about losing everything. There has been a lot of progress in thirty years, but clearly there is still a long way to go.

Actor Quits Y&R to Avoid Gay Storyline?

According to an article at Soap Central, actor Chris Engen, who played Victor Newman's son Adam on The Young and the Restless, has quit his role abruptly after learning from upcoming scripts that his character was going to become involved with gay attorney Rafe Torres, the first LGBT character in Y&R history.

It was hinted from the start that Rafe would become involved with a major character who would be revealed as bisexual, and many fans thought it would be Adam, given the friendship that already existed between the two.

The show is said to be considering legal action against Engen, who is breaking his contract by quitting. At the same time, TV Guide has reported that the show has already hired actor Michael Muhney to take over the role.

Did Chris Engen really walk away from a role on the number one rated soap in daytime (and straight into a potential lawsuit) just to avoid having to kiss another man? If so, that's beyond pathetic, not to mention completely unprofessional. Does Engen plan on having a career after this?

Given that Y&R is a show that now employs two of daytime's three out LGBT actors (Celementine Ford and the newly returned Thom Bierdz, who is back on the show after a twenty year absence), the rest of the cast may be glad to see the last of Engen and his kind of attitude. It would be especially interesting to hear from Bierdz, who just gave a great interview to The Advocate, and Ford, who recently voiced her opinion on the Miss California controversy, on this subject. I doubt they'd pull any punches.

If nothing else, at least we know that Rafe has a storyline coming up that involves kissing another man.

Out In Daytime: 2 and Counting

I noted not that long ago that the only out actor currently working in daytime is One Life to Live's Scott Evans. Evans plays Oliver Fish, a recurring character who we've been seeing more often in the last couple of months. Scott first gained attention as an out gay man when his brother, film star Chris Evans, talked about his sexuality in a recent interview.

The Young and the Restless has gone a step further than OLTL and hired an out actress to play a leading role, something that I believe is a first for Daytime. I'm talking about Clementine Ford (the real life daughter of actress Cybill Shepherd, by the way), who has joined the show as Mac Browning, a leading character with a lot of history and family connections on the show.

I think it's fairly obvious that there are many LGBT actors working in daytime, and many more who've worked in the medium over the years (a few of whom have come out after the fact, like former Y&R heartthrob Thom Bierdz), but for the most part being in the closet is very much a part of life for LGBT soap stars, whether they like it or not.

Back in 1994 Keith Pruitt, an actor who had been on Guiding Light and As the World Turns and was on the soap Loving at the time, was a victim of a hate crime, being beaten along with his partner for holding hands on the street. Instead of keeping quiet about an attack which highlighted his sexuality, as many in the business would have preferred, Pruitt openly discussed the case and testified against his attackers, sending them to prison.

His openness more or less cost him a career in the Soap business, though he went on to become a successful composer before dying tragically late last year after suffering injuries in a house fire.

With the all too recent history of Pruitt in mind, having both Scott and Clementine working as Out actors in daytime is a pretty big deal. We may finally be seeing the beginning of change in the industry.

I'll be back a bit later to write about today's Nuke scenes on As the World Turns.