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Panti tells Coronation Street viewers who complained about gay kiss scene to 'grow up'

A minority of Coronation Street viewers complained over the gay kiss scene. Photo: ITV Expand

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A minority of Coronation Street viewers complained over the gay kiss scene. Photo: ITV

A minority of Coronation Street viewers complained over the gay kiss scene. Photo: ITV

A minority of Coronation Street viewers complained over the gay kiss scene. Photo: ITV

Geraldine Gittens Twitter Email

Gay rights campaigner Miss Panti Bliss has hit back at Coronation Street viewers who complained about a gay kissing scene on the show.

Coronation Street characters Todd Grimshaw and Billy Mahew were locked in a passionate kiss in a boutique hotel on Monday night.

"Can't we just have sex and talk about this over sticky toffee pudding?" asked Todd, but Billy became annoyed and refused.

A furious Todd then said: "I'm sorry but am I missing something here because I can't see how you'd be happy to have sex with Sean but not me," before storming out of the room.

Some viewers who were offended by the scene complained to ITV.

But Rory O’Neill told today’s Irish Daily Star: “If it was a straight couple and the scene was exactly the same and you weren’t going to complain about that then you’ve no other reason to complain about a gay couple.”

“If the only reason you’re complaining because it is a gay couple and it is before the watershed, then grow up.”

“If they were showing full on sex, then fine, complain but if you are complaining because of the gender of people involved then grow up.”

Daniel Brockleband, who plays Billy on Coronation Street, also defended the scene.

“Had many angry tweets saying ‘I’m disgusted my kids saw men kiss on TV’. I’m disgusted they left it up to TV to teach their kids how love works’.”

An ITV spokesperson has said: “We approach the portrayal of homosexual relationships in the same way as heterosexual relationships, and we carefully consider all scenes in our soaps, and their suitability for pre watershed audiences.

"We do not believe that the content of [the] episode was inappropriately scheduled, or exceeded generally accepted standards for content broadcast at this time."

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