Soapside: Advocate's Guide to Daytime

What exactly does "playing gay" mean? does this infer that an actor has to stereotype certain mannerisms of gays? The majority of gay people I know are no different than straight people except for what they do in the privacy of their homes. Do gay actors have to "act" a certain way when playing a straight role? When are we going to get to a point when being gay is no different than being straight. Why is who is and who is not gay such news anyway? For role models? To help others come out? If I see someone singing a song, I don't buy their album because they may or may not be gay, I buy it because I do like their music. I do not watch particular news anchors because they may or may not be gay, I watch a new anchor because I like their degree of reporting. Just my two cents.....which may or may not be gay.

Guiding Light may have chosen a complicated and controversial way to cover Jessica Leccia's maternity leave but by doing so they have honored the backstory and really given the cast an opportunity to shine. However, I do hope that the clues that this is a false alarm prove true because complicating this pairing with Frank's baby seems simply like a way to avoid intimacy in the Otalia pairing. The entire run these two have been written like any other daytime couple and it's time to follow through to the next step. When daytime's hottest couple is back on the screen again in August they need to kiss and make up. And yes CBS/Guiding Light - I said KISS!

Hey I think this is just what soaps are about. Lets keep them hanging on the edge of their seats never mind GL is going to be over with in Sept.

Whether the writers at GL have some brilliant resolution in mind or not, they've made a profound misstep with the Otalia storyline. The fans have been played for suckers, strung along with promises of "endgame" or even basic intimacy between the characters. Instead it's devolved to the women becoming doormats, the men being "good" and the loyal viewers being kicked to the curb. I've taken GL off my DVR, and won't be sticking around to see what further damage they'll do to the story I so enjoyed.

I was not watching ANY soaps until a friend pointed me at Otalia and have been LOVING it since November...and now there's a pregnancy scare at this point of JL's third trimester?? Come on, this storyline was golden until the other day...I was rushing home to watch my PVR'd episode to find that Natalia is pulling away from Olivia like this??!! It's too unreal and truly devastating for diehard fans of this wonderful couple.

Michael, thanks for your support of Otalia and BPD. Although the path GL has taken with the sl is not one I favor I will continue to watch it as Otalia has so much more yet to experience. To think a misstep would send me fleeing is not something I would even consider. Call it "endgame", call it a "journey", call them a supercouple or call it whatever lil catchy thing someone comes up with, I just know I'm going to be there to see Olivia and Natalia through all their trials and tribulations and all their joy and love. Yes, it all will end in Sept but the love Otalia has shown me will live fondly in my memory for a long long time. The BPD will remain too as there will remain a strongly bonded community of intelligent resilent beautiful and funny people that I love to spend my time with each and every day. Thanks again!

I did not want a pregnancy for Otalia and I am not totally convinced that there is one. But I can live with one. Olivia and Natalia's love story has been pure pleasure to watch -- it is good soap. This week gutted me. These two flawed characters are a pleasure to watch. Otalia is ending way too soon. Thank you Michael for giving us great coverage of Otalia. Thank you Guiding Light for giving us Otalia. No one person or story is perfect. Otalia has been good soap!!

I love both Otalia and Nuke. I'm not worried about Otalia. At least they are written like a couple in love. Luke and Noah are being written as so platonic right now. I hope not for the benefit of this Mason person. I don't know Forbes March, but he seems like a nice guy. I don't want a triangle.

If all I cared about was Otalia's endgame, I would've stopped watching the show long ago. We care about the day to day--seeing two women being happy together for an extended period of time isn't something we've ever seen on daytime--so this turn of events is immensely disappointing. But it goes beyond just the infuriating pregnant lesbian storyline which we've seen time and time again...it's that Jessica Leccia has been pregnant for months and they said they weren't going to incorporate it into the storyline. We've pretended for months that JL isn't pregnant and endured oddly placed plants or the ever-present black bag. I'm hoping that One Life to Live (which, I must say, might be the best written show in daytime right now) continues to take a deliberate pace with Kyle and Fish. I'm loving the storyline thus far...and hoping that it doesn't let me down like GL has.

It was a little more than 4 months; is probably a red herring (lots of hints in that direction). Natalia is acting just like she has always been - unsure. Just chill and let it play out.