Gay Financial Network

Soaps' First Lesbian Love Scene Planned for May Sweeps
March 13, 2003
Gfn.com News

ABC's "All My Children," which was virtually shut out of the recent "Daytime Emmy Award" nominations, may soon get the attention it longs for, along with making television history with soap opera's first same-sex love scene.

Erica Kane's (Susan Lucci) gay daughter, Bianca (Eden Riegel), will reportedly hit the sheets with Lena (Olga Sosnovska) in a first-ever lesbian love scene on afternoon TV, say TV Guide.

The timing will surprise few, when the episode airs during May sweeps.

"Is Lena straight, gay or bisexual? That's the question we're putting on the table," ABC Daytime chief Brian Frons told TV Guide.

Frons says he considers the Bianca-Lena pairing "much bolder" TV than pairing Bianca with longtime squeeze Maggie (Elizabeth Hendrickson).

The choice of Lena as a partner for Bianca wasn't taken lightly. Frons says ABC polled 1,500 "AMC" viewers last December to see how Bianca's romantic life should proceed.

"That group, by a wide majority, said, 'It's OK for Bianca to be a lesbian, and for 'AMC' to tell a lesbian love story, but we don't want it to be with Maggie,'" Frons says.

"To be honest, we were shocked."

Maggie, by the way, has since been paired with Henry (Ivan Shaw).

"Maybe it will turn out we made a mistake," Frons says. "Maybe it will be decided that Maggie has no chemistry with Henry because she is a lesbian and wasn't ready to deal with it."

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