Not The Only Gay In The (African) Village

Every now and then, the producers of EastEnders or Coronation Street decide to provoke some controversy (and boost the ratings) by throwing a gay kiss into the mix. It's almost always between two middle class white men (rather than confuse the audience they like to keep things simple - a black gay would be too much for Mrs Smith of Sussex).

Things are a bit different in South Africa. The soap Rhythm City has provoked some controversy with a kiss between the characters Stone (Zenzo Ngqobe) and Thula (Wright Ngubeni), whose mother has been struck down with HIV. Thula is selling his body to a married man; his best friend Stone finds out and confronts him, then plants a sexy kiss on Thula.

Well, it all sounds pretty good to me. Actor Zenzo Ngqobe, who appeared in the film Tsotsi , had this to say: “Personally, I think it wasn’t too graphic. In their subtle way, the producers did their bit to open a window for the audience to what homosexuality is about. Most fans were happy with that scene.”