The other day I talked about how society had obviously not progressed very far if people were getting upset about two men kissing in a metaphorical way in an advert for mayonnaise. I said the first gay kiss in a soap was “nearly fifteen years ago”. Turns out I was wrong. I was thinking of the first lesbian kiss, which was precisely 15 years ago. Of course, the first gay kiss was in Eastenders, 21 whole years ago. Who’d have thought people would still be getting upset so long after that?

You can read the history of gay kisses on primetime TV along with other insights into the whole furore, including the American Family Association’s rather scary response, in this BBC News Magazine article.