TV exec defends youngest ever gay kiss on ‘The Fosters’
The executive producer of ABC drama The Fosters has spoken out to defend what is thought to be the youngest ever gay kiss on TV.
Executive Producer and show creator Peter Paige, who also worked on the US version of ‘Queer as Folk’, spoke to The Wrap to defend the kiss.
He said: “If people want to judge it, I think maybe they should watch and see how carefully, delicately and chastely it was handled. We are not here to sensationalize or exploit anyone.
“When people question the scene my response has been: ‘Everyone has a first kiss and you remember it. How old were you?’
“Ninety percent of people who have an answer come back and say, ‘I was 12, 13 and 14 years old,’ and I say, ‘Exactly. It was time to see this, time to put this up for the world’.
“Then people understand, they’re able to wrap their heads around it.”
He continued: “We try not write stories based on reaction. We try to write them based on character integrity as we understand it and observe it. This story is very true.
“Both [co-creator Bradley Bredeweg] and I are gay men and it felt very true to both of our early coming out experiences.
“More than anything else, we felt responsibility to those kids and to our younger selves who didn’t see themselves reflected anywhere…
“We’ve all been watching stories about heterosexuals forever… As a gay kid you are always having to translate.
“You are always having to pretend like you are one of the other characters. You’re not seeing your life accurately reflected.”
Watch the kiss below:
