I’m now addicted to American daytime soap TV – well, one show in particular – ‘As the World Turns’ and it’s story about Luke and Noah. I must have been hiding under a rock for the past couple of years (or on an island), to have missed the TV soap sensation that took place exactly on my birthday two years ago. It was the first ever gay kiss on American daytime TV, and it took the serial from the bottom of the ratings to third place under ‘Young and the Restless’ and ‘The Bold and the Beautiful.

Luke is a young gay man who has recently ‘come out’, and Noah is in a relationship with a woman named Maddie, however Noah and Luke develop feelings for each other and tension forms between the pair over a number of episodes. Luke doesn’t want to pursue Noah because Maddie (Noah’s girlfriend) is his friend too, and he doesn’t want to risk being rejected by Noah (a previous friend Kevin rejected Luke after he made advances on him). Noah wants to please his father and live a straight life with Maddie. The tension builds and spills over in the following scene, which is now one of the most viewed scenes in YouTube’s history. (I suspect that there would have been a significant increase in the number of 911 calls from rest homes across America reporting cardiac collapses and shortness-of-breath after this segment went to air!)

Gosh, when I saw this, it reminded me of when I was on an international exchange with the Ship for World Youth. I was actually at a conference in Tokyo, and the delegates had to dress in special clothing for a dinner ceremony. Mr Brazil came to help me sort my tie, and a scene like above took place, but without the kiss. The tension continued to build over the week, until a scene like above did occur. Sadly things did not progress – Mr Brazil had ‘Noah’ issues, and my Brazilian episode ended in pain (heartache, not a raw red hairless rash down below), which is probably a good thing otherwise I wouldn’t have met Peter, and this website would probably be called ‘my brazillian’ instead of ‘my island’.

I was up till 3am last night watching re-runs of ‘As the World Turns’ on YouTube. Tragic I know – but I was just amazed at the honesty and length the show goes to to outline the issues facing Noah and Luke, and basically gay couples all over the world. Finding love in the gay world is difficult – a smaller population, and huge issues around people hiding or dealing with their sexuality. And despite there being supposed mainstream acceptance, this was the first gay couple on daytime TV, and this was only back in 2007.

If you’re thinking of watching ‘As the World Turns’ be prepared that it is also trashy. Luke and Noah’s issues and chemistry obviously get the audience tuning in, but then soap TV mentality takes over, with Noah’s dad being a homophobic retired Army Colonel who tries to kill Luke on a fishing trip for leading his son astray (oh, dad also killed Noah’s birth mother a way back too). Luke is pushed down a bank, sustains a spinal injury, and is put in a wheelchair. However, many episodes later (up till 3am remember), the bond between Luke and Noah becomes so great that Luke is motivated to walk again, all because of Noah’s support. It was hard to know whether to grab the chunder bucket or the sniffle tissues at times.

Fortunately me and Peter have created our own soap opera on our little island on the Hauraki Gulf. Luke and Noah are simply a reminder of the difficult journey getting here, and the importance of relationships in one’s life. So go hug the significant other in your life if you have one. Life is short, so make the most of every day you have with your someone special. Even better, move to an island and start watching daytime soap operas in your spare time, and then you’ll start wondering where the day went!