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All
My Children has gone from hardly acknowledging Erica Kane's
lesbian daughter, Bianca's sexuality to giving her two
love interests. One of which, Maggie, has always insisted
she is very straight and now the AMC boards and fan clubs
have been alive with debate, homophobia and bickering.
"Is
AMC depicting and promoting the homphobic philosophy that
gays try to turn straights into gays?"
Here is
what an avid AMC fan and lesbian has to say!
Lesbian
Soap Dreams:
The
Love and Lust of
Lena
and Bianca
Yes, I admit, I am a lesbian
soap queen. Not just of any soap mind you; the tried and true
All My Children. The soap of all soaps. One day about, uh
hem, 25 years ago, I was sick in bed flipping through the
channels, as all have done; and I had a vision on my screen.
That woman, the one I could not take my eyes off of, they
would call Erica Kane. I remember as I watched, feasting on
her beauty, thinking only one thing…”Honey, no one can toss
attitude and hair like this babe”. Alas, I have been hooked
ever since. My soap has taken me many places, some I loved,
some I hated, but it has been there longer than any girlfriend
I’ve ever had. And now I present to you the story my lesbian
self never thought would happen on daytime television. We
have Lena , Bianca and the questionable Maggie.
Through
the years I have watched Erica marry several, and I mean several,
times. I have seen abortion, murder, rape, mixed race relationships,
AIDS related death, and yes, lesbian love. Twice, and believe
me, the second time was the charm. Enter Lena and Bianca,
well Bianca first.
This
young girl came on to the scene as Erica Kane’s’ daughter.
Skulking into town after her fathers death, a mere teenager..With
a secret. After months of tryst, this is a soap, she gathered
the courage to tell her mother her tale. “Mom, I’m gay.” My
friends and I, straight and gay, sat around the television,
eating our lunch, jumped and cheered at this momentous occasion.
I
find it thrilling as a lesbian, to be able to engulf myself
into a story that I can truly relate to. I do know that this
isn’t real, to any one who was wondering. Before there was
Lianca, Lena and Bianca, there was BAM, Bianca and Maggie.
Both of these fan sites are dedicated to the core. Okay, I’m
an official Lianca member. I am truly a sucker for a tall
woman with a deep breathy accent. “I lahv Beehanka”, as Lena
always exclaims. What can I say, Eden Riegel (Bianca) and
Olga Sosnovska( Lena ) are so cute together. Even Liz Hendrickson
(Maggie) is no slacker either. All three of these women make
us bark like the dogs we are;*wink*.
Now
here we are, a year later, the writers have finally given
Bianca; affectionately known as Binks, an actual love life.
Her name would be Lena . In April of 2003, Binks was finally
allowed to fall into a mutual love and share the first ever
in daytime television kiss. Again I cheered, and teared. These
two wonderful actresses put their heart and soul into these
loving characters. They have made a believer out of me and
thousands of others.
Then
came the writers, or whomever. Executives, sponsors, I don’t
know much about this business. They have raped Binks, literally,
and gotten her pregnant with her rapist’s baby. Being a soap,
I understand the need for tryst and drama. I’ve always thought
with the best of intentions. Through all of this, our Binks
and Lena are coming together again.
Now
I must say that I am worried. They want to present to us a
triangle so to speak. Maggie, Binks’ best friend, whom a relationship
was addressed in the past, is having second thoughts about
her “feelings” for Binks. Maggie on several occasions has
declared herself to be straight.
This
for me is no longer about a storyline of imaginary characters
playing out their roles. This is about messages. If a network
is going to tell a “controversial” story such as this, they
should do so with responsibility. We all know that there are
a lot of people out there who believe that gays are out to
turn the straights over to their lifestyles; of course nothing
can be further from the truth. I sincerely hope that ABC hasn’t
chosen to pit fans against each other instead of encouraging
them to embrace a common cause.
Many
of us have horror stories of lost friendships, acts of violence,
and family estrangement because of this false belief. Stonewall
was really only thirty years ago. I encourage the fans of
this show to please stick together. Celebrate and support
positive storytelling of the life that we know is love.
As
an official member of a website dedicated to the Lena character,
I have seen many postings from people that are scared and
angry by this storyline. This brings up a lot of bad memories
for themselves and people they love. It hasn’t been so long
that we could walk out of a bar after a night of fun and dancing
and not worry about who was watching us leave. Some of that
anger overflows onto the perspective websites, BAM and Lianca,
with harsh and troublesome words between us.
I
can write my letters in hopes that they are read. Believe
me I am not a letter writer. I hope with all my heart that
the powers that be of this show understand the message they
would be sending if this were to come to play. I only ask
one thing of them; don’t beware, be aware.
And
always remember one thing:
Erica
is Queen; just ask her.
Allie
Kuban
Who
should Bianca end up with? State your case now!
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