I was astonished to read today that Eastenders is once again under fire after the BBC were bombarded with complaints about a kiss between two men was aired before the watershed.

Thousands were apparently angered at the snog between Christian Clarke (John Partridge) and Lee Thompson (Carl Ferguson) which aired on Tuesday.

Eastenders bosses were slammed for screening the “offensive” scenes too early and
one viewer wrote on the BBC’s Points Of View internet message board, “I am appalled by the display of homosexual kissing before the watershed shown on EastEnders.

“This is disgraceful whilst young children are watching and sets the wrong example.”

Another viewer wrote, “I had to explain to my seven-year-old son what was happening.

“He now thinks he is gay because he kisses his dad.”

Oh no! You had to tell your son the truth about the reality of real life? Oh dear god! How ridiculous! To this father, I suggest you try letting your son out of the house for a bit; he might learn what the real world’s about.

Does your son think he’s an adulterer if he kisses his mum AND his aunty? Or perhaps he’ll assume all step-fathers who kiss their step-children are predatory paedophiles as well?

I cannot believe that in 2008 people are still so ludicrously misinformed and ill-educated that a kiss between two men could spark this kind of outrage. Newsflash, being gay isn’t a crime, nor is it ‘wrong’ and frankly, if programme makers took too much notice of the PC brigade, all their storylines would revolve around old ladies drinking tea and talking about flower arranging… or is that ageist and stereotyping old ladies? Jeez, I think it is.

Another angry fan complained, “I think pre-watershed standards have been irresponsibly lowered in recent years” What’s irresponsible about men kissing? They do it in real life; it actually happens and I doubt very much they check their watches to be sure it’s after 9pm when they do!

The current controversy comes more than twenty years after Eastenders first sparked outrage when it screened the first gay kiss in a British soap which was showed Colin Russell – played by Michael Cashman, 57, who is now a Labour MEP – giving Barry Clark (Gary Hailes, 42) a kiss on the forehead.

The scene resulted in a record number of complaints and there were even questions asked in Parliament about whether the scene was appropriate.

In a statement last night the BBC confirmed that it had received complaints but refused to say how many.

“We approach our portrayal of homosexual relationships in the same way as we do heterosexual relationships. We believe that the general tone and content of EastEnders is now widely recognised. Parents can make an informed decision.”

Precisely! Since when is it a big surprise that Eastenders is sometimes ‘shocking’ so why let your kids watch it if you’re then going to complain about its content? TVs are equipped with an off button so use it.

Presumably these complainants knew about the Tony-paedophile storyline but their children were watching the show on Tuesday, so is it ok for them to see that but not two men kissing? Is that storyline easier to explain to a seven year old than why two men kissed? Madness.

Ok, maybe Eastenders could just show a married couple with 2.4 kids who never row, never have money troubles, perhaps have at least one minority friend and who don’t drink or smoke… yeah because that would make great TV and anyway, then it’s marginalising single parent families…

The point of soap operas is that they mirror real-life and in real-life, there really are gay people about, there really are paedophiles about, people drink, smoke, do illegal things and generally don’t live by the PC brigade’s Guide-To-Acceptable-Behaviour handbook day in day out.

In short, to all those who complained, either live in the now or switch off your TV.