AfterEllen.com contest to win Liz and Eden's sock monkey

The storyline definitely positively affected the lesbian visibility. Because there weren't many lesbian characters on television let alone on daytime television. Bianca coming out was a big storyline for the world to see. And I think it made it ok to be gay at that time, because a lot of people were rooting for Bianca to have a love interest. It was very big when we got the first lesbian kiss on daytime television; I know that I was glued to the television. And I was rewinding and watching again and again and again.

The storyline of Bianca being gay came out the same time that I was dealing with coming out to my parents. My mother and I had a difficult time because she couldn’t accept that I was gay and she wanted to ‘change me’. I had her watch an episode with Erica and Bianca dealing with Erica’s dislike of Bianca being gay. It gave us something to talk about and helped us grow and deal with my mother’s dislike of me being gay. We don’t have a close relationship but we do have an ok relationship and the show helped us with that.

Before BAM I had to use a lot of imagination. And let me tell you, it's hard pretending that Aiden or Ryan or J.R. are actually just really, really butch lesbians in order to make the storyline apply to you. That's difficult stuff. Or is it? That Aiden is pretty symmetrical.

Either way, when the BAM storyline emerged I was so incredibly and fantastically thrilled and anxious. I sat, mouth agape with far too many ounces of hope whenever they were on screen together. I was living in Auburn, Alabama or maybe it would be more accurate to say I was living in a closet in Auburn, Alabama praying for ANYTHING to happen. I NEEDED it to happen. And when I got the slightest glimmer in the sky of what would eventually be BAM, it meant something to me. No, it MEANT something to me. This was not your regular soap opera fair. This was a sign of hope for me. For lots of people. And it was handled with so much care by the actresses, if not always by the writers.

More than anything I knew that millions of other people, who never would have to deal with who I am or who I love, had to be exposed to this story. And maybe--just maybe--a few minds were changed. Maybe over time it became acceptable if not "normal" to see this beautifully constructed and intricate love story play out over the years. Maybe a gay or lesbian child was accepted with a little more understanding than before.

And sure, there are a couple more shows and a couple more movies that include a lesbian line now. And I watch them. But it's not the same. And for anyone else that admittedly made a tiny religion out of watching Maggie and Bianca for seven years, you know why. Besides, Ryan and J.R. were never really my type.

"I went to the doctor of philosophy and he was like, 'man, what are YOU doing here, you lesbo?!'"-Sarah Silverman (tSSP)

The Bianca storyline on All My Children (AMC) especially with Frankie and Maggie did a lot for lesbian visibility. The character of Bianca Montgomery brought a new layer to queer visibility on soap operas, being one of the first major characters to come out. Bianca wasn’t just some random character, she’s the daughter of Erica Kane, perhaps the most visible soap character.

The storyline that unfolded, once they brought in Frankie, was one that was really fit in with other soap opera storylines. Murder, mayhem, rape, baby crises, twins of dead lovers – all old and familiar tropes of soaps (which I have watched with my mother since childhood). You’re hard pressed to look for soaps that don’t have the magical twin of a dead character, the baby of rape, baby mix-ups, cheating, multiple lovers. Bianca and Maggie were treated no differently.

While there were issues with how much they were allowed to show in comparison to the straight characters, they were the first queer characters doing anything on daytime. They brought lesbians to a medium that wasn’t familiar with gay life and made it normal. Bianca and Maggie weren’t held apart from the chaos of Pine Valley, they were included. Bianca was even a mother, which in the land of soaps, leaves her with an even larger legacy. While they had their own storyline together and apart, they had friends and family and were accepted in those relationships. They were entangled in the lives of the other people that made up their world and were easily found on screen.

Whether or not Bianca and Maggie return to Pine Valley or whether they return with different faces than the ones we’re used to, Eden and Liz changed the face of daytime and increased lesbian and bisexual visibility in a very positive way to a lot of people who may have never known gay people. In doing so, they, like so many soap characters before them, came into people’s homes day after day and either were fabulous roll models for young queer teens (or at least as well as a soap can) or made something foreign something much more real.

All My Children’s lesbian storyline between “Bianca” and “Maggie” was groundbreaking. I had never really watched soap operas and had out of nowhere stumbled across “Maggie” and “Bianca” one day flicking through the channels. I was immediately drawn into the storyline. Eden and Elizabeth’s on screen chemistry was simply amazing, you knew they were friends, and the relationship between the characters felt totally real.

 

I think that this relationship on daytime was definitely positive because it has coached bi-curious teens and helped in the closet lesbians come out and not be afraid of who they are. Speaking from experience every time I saw “Maggie” on the screen and the situations she was going through, I understood where she was coming from because I was going through it too. As time progressed on the show “Maggie” began to remind me a little bit more of myself and the character guided me to explore who I was and who I wanted to be, in terms of sexuality.  

 Another great contribution was “Bianca” being out and proud, not to mention in the public eye because of her celebrity mother. That was heroic and I’m sure lesbians around the world looked up to her for being so strong in a sticky situation such as that one. The relationship between “Maggie” and “Bianca” had its rough times but what friendship or relationship hasn’t had bumpy roads? The sincerity of the friendship was completely breathtaking, I can’t even explain it in words. It reminded me a lot of FRIED GREEN TOMATOES which also stayed true to the integrity of the bond between the two leading ladies.

 All My Children was a little apprehensive about how it portrayed the lesbian relationship between both “Bianca” and “Frankie,” and between “Bianca” and “Maggie” and pulled back a lot with how far the storyline could go. Despite the come here go again trip they put the viewers through I think it paid off because they definitely stayed true to the quality and not quantity of lesbianism and relationships between women. The portrayal of love in the media is solely based on sex, because society is quite frankly obessed with sex. So in holding back much of the physicality between "Bianca" and "Maggie" it made it different, honest, realistic. All My Children’s Eden Riegel and Elizabeth Hendrickson have set the bar for future lesbian characters on television. They have greatly contributed to youngsters finding themselves all over the world and aided us in further understanding the lifestyles of two girls in love.

 

Kudos ladies, kudos!    

 

Lesbian visibility could have been daunting for the two little soap characters that could...but what made all the difference were the actresses who portrayed them.  Bianca and Maggie definitely contributed to lesbian visibility with many more positives then there have ever been negatives.

When Bianca returned to Pine Valley as the teenage girl with a secret, her story and all the characters involved became a pebble in the pond with the ripples still being felt and seen to this day.

Because of BAM, I surfed the net...looking for all the bisexual women and lesbian sites that were for sure discussing this ground-breaking show.  What I found was Sarah Warn's little site that could...AfterEllen.com...and Sarah being so dedicated to shining a light on gay girls in entertainment and the media.

And I am not the only one who found her way here because of Bianca and Maggie.  I guess it was perfect timing.  The genesis of a website about lesbians in the media around the same time the first 3-dimensional soap lesbian came to be.  Bianca and her women brought so many of us here who ended up staying...helping contribute to the community of this site and having a voice that the mainstream listens to more and more.

As a fan of the soap opera genre...ever since I first stayed home from school with a bad cold and no cable...I also belong to several general soap boards.  I have seen positive changes in attitude among the straight soap fans because they connected with Bianca's humanity.

All of us...gay and straight...went along for the ride with Bianca.  She confronted head-on her mother and the homophobia within her small town while dealing with heartache; straight girl crushes; lost love; and the bicurious best friend giving mixed signals.  It might have been chaste in many respects, but it was a window into the inner world of gay women like I had never seen before on network television.  Yet the universality of the emotions and feelings involved pulled in straight viewers instead of alienating them.

Over the years, I have witnessed Bianca and Maggie's level of visibility make a direct impact upon our current generation of young gay women to more easily embrace (and not hide) their sexuality as part of who they are...even if they cannot quite quantify it as of yet.

The one outstanding negative is that the general straight audience wasn't given enough credit or trust thus there were continuous roadblocks preventing an actual onscreen romantic coupling between Bianca and Maggie. So an important facet to these two characters wasn't developed.  There were never those simple little couple and family (with Bianca's daughter) scenes of hugs and kisses...and good-bye, dear have a great day...to put the lesbian couple in the bigger context of the general community framework in which they lived.  A loving couple wanting to be a family and raise their children...just like any other soap opera couple...until a near fatal head-injury causes severe amnesia...damaging their relationship.

            The lesbian story lines that took place on All My Children had a very positive affect on my life for sure and the whole lesbian community.  It was the first time that an ongoing lesbian story line was on day time TV show let alone any TV show. By having lesbian relationships that were believable on regular TV was huge in getting the world to see that being a lesbian was ok, if Erica Kane could accept a gay daughter then any one can. The story lines also helped me during my coming out. Seeing how comfterble. Bianca was with being a lesbian helped me to be comfterble with my self. I believe with out these story lines we might not be as exposed as we are now even though were not as exposed as I’d like it could be worse. So in conclusion I would just like to say thank you to Eden and Liz for playing these characters in a way that we could relate to them. I’m sure you both have help a lot of women in finding out how they are and being ok with it, I know you helped me. Thank you very much.

Words can not express how much this storyline has impacted my life!  I have been a fan of All My Children for about 10 years now, and when Bianca came back to PV, It was like a breath of fresh air!  Eden's portrayal of Bianca was amazing.  How such a young actress could bring such a mature outlook to her character was truly inspiring! When Elizabeth came to PV as the free spirited "Frankie", It only got better!  Although, "Bianca" and "Frankie's" Relationship was short lived, I was so Happy AMC bought Liz back to Portray "Maggie"! The Chemistry between the two was perfect!

When there was speculation that "Binx" was gay, I was Like "Hooray!!" LOL.  Yet again AMC had Broken  another boundary!  "Binx" Being the first openly gay Character on Daytime.  That in itself was a huge positive step towards Lesbian visiblity on televsion. And the fact that she was not ashamed but proud of who she was...BRILLIANT.  It also opened the doors for other soaps to par-take in having Gay characters on Daytime.  For awhile, "Binx" and "Maggie"  became my main reason for watch AMC!  I always wanted to see what would happen next!  It also gave viewers insight on how friends and family deal with someones coming out.  Which is also very important!

The Negative aspects of BAM'S Relationship, was that they didn't have enough time together.  BAM's Relationship was only really clarified when "Binx"  was leaving Pine Valley!.  A very sad day indeed!  I just wish that TPTB gave them alittle more time to establish a real relationship.  Although "Binx" had other realtionships, such as, "Frankie" and "Lena", Maggie was the one to always stand By "Binx's" side (EX: The Michael Cambias ordeal)!  The storyline was played too safe.  Understandable, but if you know that MOST Viewers did not have a problem with it, then GO FOR IT!  I feel alot more could have been done with these amazing Characters but due to safeness, they storyline faultered a bit.

The bottom line:  Thank you Eden Riegel and Elizabeth Hendrickson, for Portraying Such AMAZING Characters!  This storyline helped me cope with so many things in life. It gave me something to look foward to every day. It Made me laugh, cry, angry, but most of all, it made me HAPPY And Proud!  And through-out all of the positives and negatives, at the end of the day, many lives were touched and changed  To me, thats all that matters! :-)

www.myspace.com/xenite29

That is a relevant topic: "how [we] think the lesbian story line on All My Children contributed (positively or negatively) to lesbian visibility. I have to definitively say that it was negative. I mean, ever since my vision has been terrible, because my eyes were focused on that screen for hours, which isn't good for anyones eyes. I know many other lesbians have found themselves in the same predicament... having to shop for glasses, get LASIK... squint at everything they read and what not. And all because of the lesbian story line on All My Children...

Okay, seriously... I think that it was very important to have a very relevant love affair between Bianca and Maggie specifically, mixed in with all the other sordid affairs that comes with All My Children. The equality in the twisted, addictable plot at characters... and even though there could have been more kiss scenes, the relationship was conveyed, again, more on par with the dynamics of straight relationships. It would have been easy for the creators of the show to reduce it to hot-lesbian-make-out-scenes, rather than keep it in tone with the rest of the show. They made the story line and dialogue relatively believable... or at least as much as it gets on soap opera's in general. Plus, they arranged to have beautiful actresses play the lesbian characters, which made it just that much better.

The relationship between Maggie and Bianca was definitely a positive contribution to lesbian visibility on television during the years that it was on. Especially for a show as long running as All My Children. The relationship wasn't just about them being a couple (because it sure took Maggie a while) physically but more so emotionally. They started out being friends which led them to being best friends. That's what Bianca really needed at first after frankies death, her mom being hard on her, her rape etc. Someone she could really trust and talk to. Someone that understood her. Sure it had its ups and down what with Maggie being so "confused" and all but it was the realness of their friendship that when they got together (finally) made it all the more special. That in itself is so wonderful in the representation of couples in the lesbian community where all we see on TV is bisexuals being looney killers or two lezzies wanting to have a baby but falling out of love. Heck even if Maggie would have went crazy and killed everyone in pine valley, it would have been something to lesbian visibility on TV. lol

Also, it was a way where viewers could relate to internal conflicts Bianca or Maggie had going on during their friendship. It made us think " Heck YES my best friend who I know we have chemistry emotionally and physically could totally fall for me". So yes this portrayal of a lesbian relationship certainly contributed to the communities visibility on television.


I'd also like to point out that in my mind the BAM relationship ended with them flying out into the sunset on Bianca's private jet headed to Paris with Miranda thinking "Wow my mommies are the bestest". Oh, I just wanna say Liz and Eden you guys rocked! on Brunch with Bridget you two are soo cool ferosh =D

i read all your beautiful and enlightened posts and decided my previous post - which was against the rules - doesn't really belong here. so it's hereby removed. good luck to you all! 

I'm from england and haven't really had All My Children as a major show here, but i have watched a number of episodes of BAM, since hearing about it a couple of years ago, and this is what i have picked up from it:

In such an overly conservative country, where gay people are treated like out casts, abnormal and 'sinfully' wrong, i think that BAM has helped to pave a more acceptable life style for not just adults but more importantly teenagers, who are alot less stable and vunerable and find it harder to be strong. BAM has opened a door for not only the young generation to feel more 'normal' and not alone but have helped to show a new side of love to a generation, who has been bought up on society being built around a family of a mother, a father and 2.4 children as the only lifestyle option.

It has also discussed issues of identity crisis (zarf), and has helped to paint a picture of this and the people involved with these issues to the public to inbrace and recognize.

BAM has been one of the very few lesbian storylines on primetime tv, a time where everyone can see the beauty of gay love as simply as straight love (though more BEAutiful than straight love :P) and this is a step forward than showing it at night where it's hidden from the world, whilst they sleep.

BAM has been a hott positive storyline in reflecting on a sensitive subject.

The writters took a step in writting the storyline but the girls took a leap in promoting it and generally believing in the fact that love is love, so STICK IT! and i think that any promotion of positive lesbian storylines stereotypical or not, is fantastic for the people who need that little glimer of normality and connection in their lives.

Isn't it amazing how much of an effect a show can have on people!

P.S the only negative thing about the BAM factor is that it's a soap opera and some times people get more caught up in the whole drama than the moral of the story! 

After reading all the entries before mine, just like you have, they all began to sound very repetitive, true but repetitive; except for a couple. The majority have summarized the BAM storyline, told their own stories on how BAM helped them come out and be more comfortable with themselves. These stories are the best examples of the influence of BAM.

Like stated before, out and in the closet lesbians were glued to the TV for an hour just to see if maybe, just maybe, BAM would finally hook up. AMC has been on the air for a long time, and families have gathered around the TV to see relationships grow and then fall apart (again and again) I hate to say this, but the majority of soap opera audiences are straight, and for them to all of a sudden have a lesbian on their favorite show was a breath of fresh air, and educational (in a soap opera kinda way.) It also helped that Bianca was such a kind hearted character who everyone knew and could count on. Audiences loved her before she was gay so it was smart of the writers to use Bianca.

The repetitive part.

I never watched soaps before BAM, partly because I lived in Mexico (border town) and ABC wasn’t available and because there were never any storylines I was interested in; until BAM. I didn't come across BAM because I was channel surfing, or because a friend told me. I was either 12 or 13, and I was at a friend's house watching the daytime Emmy's, I was bored, until the "breakthrough new actress" category (or something like that) came on and Eden Riegel was nominated. The scene used was the one where Bianca comes out to her mom; that woke me up for sure!! I took a mental picture of the name of the soap opera and decided I was going to start watching it. To my surprise, my mom had recently paid the cable company so we could get more channels, which included American channels, so I was psyched! but that excitement left as soon as it came when I realized that AMC was on during school hours :( One summer, when we finally moved to the U.S., my excitement returned because I would be able to see BAM, but once again to my dismay, we didn't have cable. Instead we had a tiny antenna that would sometimes work but I would have to stand over the TV in order to get some sort of reception.

One day I gave up and decided to resort to the internet. Thank goodness for ezboard. I read the recaps of every episode; sometimes they had pictures and if I was lucky videos were posted. I would participate in the board and that experience sure opened my eyes to the lesbian community.

Thank you Eden and Liz. Pioneers for sure.

How could the contribution to lesbian visibility be negative with those two hottie boom bodies? Eh? Eh?

My mom is a small, conservative, Asian woman, and though we've been in the states for over 25 years, she still struggles with English. Consequently, she turns to television as an educational resource.

I'm not going to lie, I thought all soaps were lame until my mother asked me one day what "gay" meant. At first, I figured she had somehow tuned into an inappropriate channel with a lot of men... but it was in reference to an AMC episode where Bianca comes out to her own mother. My mom added "gay" to her vocabulary thanks to that particular episode... but she still doesn't know how to pronounce my American name correctly... (even though she named me?) but hey, I think that's great. In any case, I started watching AMC shortly afterwards, not just because of my support of gay characters in the media, but because I didn’t trust my mother's summaries of the soap. (After watching "Juno" together, I sighed as my mom later told my dad that it was a movie about obesity - no wonder she was so shocked when "that baby showed up out of nowhere")

I admit, she still has a ways to go in terms of breaking down language barriers, but along the way, she is becoming more open-minded and the lesbian storyline on AMC was definitely a winner (and I know if this can apply to my small, conservative, Asian mom, it can apply to a wide variety of people). Furthermore, aside from the goodness of food, I can finally agree with my mother on something: Bianca's hot, but more so when it's Bianca and Maggie together. (Well… I added the latter. My mom just thinks they’re both very pretty).

How could that be negative?? Eh?

The BAM storyline greatly improved lesbian visibility. More specifically it was Bianca’s storyline that caught the attention of many people at first. I must be honest and say I did not watch All My Children from the beginning of Bianca’s lesbian storyline, mainly because I was too young at the time and did not know what was going on. However, I still remember the first time I ever heard of the show and it was because of Bianca’s character.

I was on my way to school and driving while listening to one of those morning radio talk shows. The topic of the day was how All My Children was going to feature the first same sex kissing scene on daytime television later on that day. Sadly the kiss they were talking about was between Bianca and Lena. Nothing against Lena because she was great but I think most people entering this contest will agree with me in saying that it should’ve been Maggie! Anyways, it was during this time when I first began to question my sexuality and didn’t know what to think about it because I had never been exposed to this kind of situation before. It was while listening to the radio and hearing people call in and giving their opinion that I first realized it was ok to be gay (Surprisingly most of the people that called in all supported the storyline). This was also the reason why I began to watch the show and stuck with it for so many years.

I must admit that at times I was very frustrated with how the writers went about dealing with Bianca and Maggie’s relationship. They always left me wanting more but now that I look back I agree with Eden. I think the show was smart about making their storyline more of a love and loyalty relationship rather than a sexual one. This way the more conservative viewers were not completely turned off and they began to see Bianca and Maggie as normal people who genuinely cared for each other.

While many people were frustrated with Maggie being indecisive between men and women, I actually found this side of Maggie to be the most helpful to lesbian visibility. I remember the scene when Maggie finally told Bianca that she loved her but did not know whether she was gay or bi. Having gone through this myself I think the scene accurately portrayed all the questions and confusion that people who go through this have. It gave all viewers a chance to see the struggles that go on in a person while they’re trying to figure out who they really are. For all of this I think the lesbian storyline contributed in a positive way to lesbian visibility.

Ps. Thanks for letting us know that it was the writers who did not want you to use tongue during kissing scenes. I always thought that it was actually you two guys who were not willing to do it.

All My Children” had an intense effect with audiences and the
history of primetime television as we know it by introducing
the relationship of the characters, “Bianca” and “Maggie.”
Striking both positive and negative feelings, it grew by the
strength of vision of the gay/lesbian community and the
word-of-mouth that spread like wildfire over the topic. In the
past, television would lightly hint on the relationships of
two people of the same gender having a relationship that
exceeded more than just friendly acquaintances. Just like
hearing the word “pregnancy” or seeing husband and wife
characters on television sleeping in separate beds, this shook
audiences to their very core, but was a much-needed view for
the way the world truly is today. Without change, the shows we
watch on television that are supposed to reflect our own lives
so that we all can relate in some way will only reflect days
past and audiences will lose interest. If we aren’t able to
find something or someone to relate to, even if that means
relating to what we watch on television or films, how are we,
as a people, supposed to find ourselves? With all the chaos of
understanding one’s own self, the introduction of these
characters of “Bianca” and “Maggie” made some people feel more
at ease with their sexuality by having something to relate to
and not feel so alone in their emotions. Families who actually
sat down and watched this soap opera with each other made
talking about the topic of sexual orientation much easier than
before. To understand everyone around us and become more aware
as well as being considerate of others instead of spreading
hate to those who are different, these characters brought
peace with ground-breaking history. To think it all started
with a single kiss between the two women on “All My Children”
for the world to see is absolutely amazing. Now we are able to
see two women or two men openly, but not in a distasteful sort
of way, on primetime television once in a while. Hopefully in
years to come, the gay/lesbian community will be able to not
feel so ostracized to the world around them. We are, after all,
just human beings who deserve to be treated the same, with
kindness and consideration alike.

(Thanks for all that you, Eden and Liz, have done for us!) xoxo

Eden Riegel’s and Elizabeth Hendrickson’s portrayals of Bianca and Maggie definitely contributed to lesbian visibility. Despite some plot twists that some would have rather been avoided (i.e. Zarf), Maggie and Bianca were shown as two friends who happened to fall in love over time. Of course, a lot of their emotions were overly dramatic due to All My Children’s being a soap opera, but even then, it was lesbians/bisexuals being shown at noon (central time) five days a week! This was exciting even if it was in a soap opera setting, and even if they broke up, and one of them ended up with Zarf. Well, okay, the Zarf part still wasn’t that exciting, but it was still groundbreaking to be having them on in the middle of the afternoon when anyone could be watching television. I say “when anyone could be watching television” because of the generally assumed obscenity in a gay/lesbian relationship. For instance, the movie Imagine Me and You, which has little obscene language or sexual content (that I saw), is rated R. The couple that ends up together is a lesbian couple, of course, or I assume the movie may have been rated PG-13. So, even if the lesbian couple had its amount of drama (as all couples on soap operas do) and did not get to kiss quite like the straight couples did, it still helped lesbian visibility, because it came on during a time that anyone could see it without too much warning (okay, there were a few previews for the lesbian kisses, but it could have been a lot worse.)

Also, personally, I realize that it is just a show, but, my mom had been watching it since she was in college, which means…I’ve watched it since I was born. I didn’t have a choice. However, once Bianca came out, strangely, I started watching it a lot more. Also to my mom’s surprise, when Bianca and Frankie/Maggie were on the show as friends/dating, I actually watched it with her if I was home on break from high school. I think my mom actually started to put two and two together there, because she would tell me if Bianca/Maggie had many scenes that day. Then, after a little while, I stopped watching All My Children. It happened just around the time that Maggie and Bianca went to Paris. Hm…At the time, I was a high school student in a rural area in the Midwest, just beginning to realize I was gay, so even if the show was a soap opera, it was my one access to see anything remotely gay. It was also around this time that my parents stopped making homophobic jokes, for the most part anyway. I think they started to get the hint because of All My Children actually…So, no matter what, and as corny as this sounds, when I was in high school (I’m in college now), the characters of Bianca and Maggie helped lesbian visibility for me.

Bianca and Maggie’s story line is like an old fairy tale that you loved from your childhood. It’s comforting and it gives you this euphoric feeling that never goes away, no matter how many times you watch their scenes. BAM was ground breaking for the soap opera world in a very positive way and it will be remembered in the years to come. It opened the door for all soap operas to take a chance and create a story line with gay and lesbian characters that many can relate to. For me this storyline gave me hope and strength to be true to myself and to never compromise who I am for others.

Elizabeth Hendrickson and Eden Riegel created two characters that were so real that some people believe that they are real! : ) But that’s what made them so endearing, their chemistry and friendship is something that IS real and that is why I love them.

 Bianca was the strong lesbian that never made excuses for who she was, which in a way I look up. And I related to Maggie because she was confused about her feels and who she was. I believe that BAM gave hope and comfort to every woman who has ever struggled with their sexuality. They showed us to be true to our selves and to not be afraid of our feelings not matter what they are. William Shakespeare wrote “To thine own self be true” and I believe Bianca and Maggie showed us the true meaning of this statement. 

Thanks! : )

-Jess         

The Bianca and Maggie storyline was the reason I started watching AMC.  I’ve longed for an honest portrayal of a lesbian on television.  “Once and Again” tried it with Evan Rachel Wood’s character (such a beautiful portrayal) but the show got cancelled before we got to see her evolve.  I was amazed when I found out AMC had a lesbian character!  I assumed she would be a minor character on the show but no, she was Erica Kane's daughter!  And she had frontburner storylines!  As a viewer you couldn't help but fall in love with Bianca's strength and vulnerability - to embrace at such a young age the fact that she is a lesbian and to come out to her mother - the all powerful Erica Kane!  I always envied that about Bianca's character because I have not had the courage to do that myself and I am in my 30’s.  So many times after watching the show I would envision how I would come out to my mother but the words could just never come out - literally.  I also envisioned my mom reacting like Erica Kane did but hoping that she could one day accept me and embrace me like Erica eventually was able to do with Bianca.  I've read many story's of how “Bianca” has helped open up dialogue between gay children and their families – that is powerful!  So many lives were probably saved because young gay kids had a “hero” in Bianca – they had someone to relate with, someone to help them realize they are not alone out there. 

The Bianca and Maggie storyline opened up so many other doors into a world many people may have never allowed themselves to live in.  Eden and Liz's portrayals of Bianca and Maggie were genuine, honest and heartfelt, their chemistry was so amazing - you could not help but root for them.  People who may have never met a gay person in their life, at least that they know of, were rooting for BAM and fell in love with the storyline.  They wanted them to be together.  BAM wasn’t a “gay couple”, they were simply Bianca and Maggie – two people in love.  My sister and I both loved the characters, even though we never mentioned the gay factor (I am not out to her either).  But knowing that she watched the show and the storyline made me feel like I could probably tell her and it would be ok.  She would probably be proud of me. 

It makes me sad that we couldn’t see BAM’s relationship evolve more.  I miss the longing feeling they had between them.   I miss watching them grow and growing with them.  I always felt like I had a safe place to go everyday at 12pm and I thank BAM for that.  But with BAM gone, I guess that leaves the door open for me to start creating some storylines of my own…

In a time before Logo there really wasn't much for lesbians to watch that was identifiable. Despite being an unrealistic soap opera, All My Children's lesbian story line had a profound impact on the way lesbians were portrayed without being completely stereotypical. Soap operas are generally directed towards older women and stay at home moms. Having people from these generations see the daughter of Erica Kane in a loving relationship with a woman (Lena), was somewhat helpful and informative to our mothers and grandmothers who may have had a difficult time dealing with us.

Although the writers never really gave us much of a relationship between Bianca and Maggie (like we begged for), they did inadvertently give us more. We got fanfictions, fan videos, blogs, and suspense and it kept us busy for 7 years. It gave us something to talk about, something to look forward to.

The writing was not particularly Emmy worthy but what made people gay, straight, young and old fall in love with BAM was the chemistry between the actresses. I don't know if anyone could have done it as well as Eden and Liz and I hope I'll never have to find out.

BAM is the super couple that almost wasn't. They are the only lesbian super couple. They were around before The L Word and South of Nowhere. The Bianca and Maggie relationship was a starting point for us--we needed it. Eden and Liz gave it to us and made it work.

BAM’s greatest contribution to lesbian visibility was exposing viewers over a long period of time to the lives of two very different women who were lesbians. By sharing the joys and sorrows of these characters, viewers grew accustomed to seeing lesbians as a regular part of daytime television, and ultimately Bianca and Maggie became the most demanded lesbian pairing in American daytime soap opera history.                 

What was so great about the Bianca and Maggie romance was that it was capable of being appreciated by heterosexual fans as well. Rather than the pair just being a novelty in a special “lesbian episode” designed to spike ratings, it took years to make their romance official, and in the process they managed to intrigue the entire All My Children audience and many more. Perhaps this is because Bianca and Maggie had more chemistry than any boy-girl couple in soaps ;)               

Of course, BAM was not perfect. Many felt that the Bianca and Maggie romance reinforced the notion that straight women can be “converted” by lesbians, or that lesbians and straight women cannot be friends without sex becoming an issue between them to such a degree that it cancelled out other positive contributions the show made to lesbian visibility. I disagree because I believe the All My Children writers allowed us to see Maggie questioning her sexuality after Henry left, eventually realizing her romantic feelings for Bianca. Maggie’s process of “coming out” as going from denial, to confusion, to acceptance of her sexuality, realistically portrayed what many lesbian and bisexual women experience.  In addition, Maggie’s coming to terms with her sexuality was what All My Children viewers never truly saw with Bianca, since Bianca had already accepted her sexuality when she returned to Pine Valley.               

Then there was the time Maggie cheated on Bianca, the one woman whom she had longed for in what seemed like forever. This was completely out of character for Maggie and made love between two women seem fickle. On the other hand, at least she cheated on Bianca with a woman! It was more than clear that Maggie had finally come to terms with being a lesbian. It was also good to see that the writers were no longer afraid to make a decision about her sexuality.                 

Anyways, these are minor complaints about a relationship that has overall done a great deal for lesbian visibility. Being one of the few, or only, lesbian romances on television, let alone daytime, BAM normalized and de-sensitized lesbian relationships. We may argue within the lesbian community about the good or bad of the BAM storyline, but I am grateful that All My Children gave us so much rich material to argue over in the first place.               

Thank you, Liz and Eden, for having provided us with some of the best (and only) lesbian characters on network TV; we’re not likely to see anything like it again anytime soon.

I believe that the lesbian storyline on All My Children has contributed tremendously to lesbian visibility and, speaking for myself, it really opened my eyes. Being from one of the Eastern European countries, I had little exposure to the idea of being gay. It was not something that was commonly discussed or seen on TV and the idea seemed so foreign and remote, that I didn't give it a second thought.

Shortly after I came to Canada, I tuned into All My Children and watched Bianca’s coming out story. It was truly gut-wrenching to see Bianca's struggle, first to accept herself, then to get her mother to accept her. It gave me a glimpse of what some of the gay teens were going through and how incredibly painful it must be when the person who you love and trust the most, can’t understand and embrace who you are. Eden’s acting was brilliant and it made me emphasize tremendously with what Bianca was going through. However, I don't think I completely "got it" until Frankie came into the picture.

Watching the relationship between Bianca and Frankie unfold was truly sweet and poignant. I loved Liz's portrayal of all the subtle complexities of Frankie’s character, tough and strong on the outside but then vulnerable and fragile on the inside. And Eden’s Bianca was so eager to pour love onto someone who really needed it. It was then that it all came together for me. All the things that Bianca said about wanting to have love in her life just like everyone else - I could see it and feel it between Bianca and Frankie. I found myself wishing for a happy ending for them and it was the first time I ever felt invested that way in the same-sex couple.

And I think that once that happened, there was an emotional shift in me and I no longer looked at the gay couples differently than other couples on TV. I was so eager to see Bianca and Maggie find their way to each other and, and in time, sought out other shows with gay/lesbian characters. Through some of the primetime shows, I was exposed to the social issues the gay community has to face. That in turn led to me educating myself on the stand the political leaders in my country take on the gay issues and vote for the leaders who are more progressive. So what started as a story on a daytime TV show became an emotional revelation and enacted change in my life and I believe in lives of many others like myself.

While All My Children was not perfect in its follow-through, I believe that the writers and the two talented actresses accomplished something very important. They got the viewers to look past all the barriers and traditions and just see the love between two people. And that’s really the key to it all because everyone gets love.

Since the 1970’s, the television industry has attempted to educate viewers through entertainment. For social issues, daytime soap operas are a better medium for “edutainment” than primetime dramas because their extended storyline capability enables plot development to more accurately represent issues in “real time.” Homosexuality is not exempted from edutainment, as new characters are usually brought in for coming out or homophobia storylines. However, as soon as their “being gay is normal” message is relayed, the character exits the show. Historically, soap operas have been ahead of primetime when exploring controversial social issues, but exploring homosexuality on daytime has lagged considerably. Daytime soaps have more than 400 characters total (9 shows x 30 main characters/show + 15-30 recurring characters/show), and yet only a handful have been LGBT characters in soap opera history.

All My Children changed this when Erica Kane’s daughter Bianca came out. Bianca had grown up on the show and viewers were invested in her. Most importantly, the character of Bianca was from THE core family, and not one-dimensional, regulated to gay storylines, but three-dimensional and subjected to as much drama as the next character. Fan’s voices’ brought Maggie to the show, and although BAM never became an on-screen couple, fans let AMC – and the soap opera world – know that NOT ONLY having gay characters, but a romance between two gay characters, on the show was acceptable and EVEN desired.

While some say writers have made mistakes in Bianca’s storyline (i.e. not treating her romantic life similar to her heterosexual counterparts), AMC attempted to keep viewers invested in Bianca’s romantic life while not alienating the “normal” viewer. While we would hope viewers wouldn’t turn away if Bianca’s love life had been “normal” (multiple affairs/divorces) for soap opera land, the fact remains that it could have possibly turned away many people who are not routinely exposed to LGBTs. From what I have read, and unlike Ellen’s “Puppy” episode, there wasn’t negative backlash from advertisers, “family rights” groups, or network affiliates. In retrospect, AMC “forced” viewers to experience a love story between two women that was relatable to all.

While I believe that the first few of Bianca’s same-sex kisses aroused media attention, the kisses did not appear during sweeps week (usually the only reason primetime dramas feature lesbian kisses), and the received media attention to the Bianca storyline, as well as BAM, was positive. Articles about Bianca’s character have not only appeared in the soap opera magazines and LGBT media outlets, but in the NY Times and academic articles. When Maggie and Bianca returned to AMC in January 2007, both actresses were listed in Soap Opera Digest’s Top 5 Actresses to Watch and the #2 Top Supercouples to Watch. FAB and BAM not only increased visibility for lesbians and bisexual women and let “the powers that be” know that we’re ready to watch a gay couple on daytime TV, but increased visibility for all LGBT. Without BAM, would Noah and Luke even be on As the World Turns?

I feel that the character of Bianca was a step forward in lesbians in the media, But bianca and Maggie as a couple was not. Bianca coming out was a big thing in soap opera history, aside from the fact that she came out when she was 16...which i'm sorry to say, Eden Riegel does not look 16, at all. this isn't actually a submission more of an observation. First Bianca gets knocked up (stereotype 1: Lesbians always get the pregnancy storyline), Then she falls in love with maggie (stereotype 2: lesbians always fall in love with the straight girl).  Finally they get together, in the last episode they're both on, because they were never actually a couple. Bianca comes back from Paris and (OMG) maggie  cheated! (stereotype 3: Bisexual girls are promiscuous). If this was prime time TV, i'd just be offended. But since it's a soap opera, and the essence of drama is conflict, i effing loved it.

The fact that AMC even touched the storyline was a feet in itself, so kudos to them.

AND the very best part is that in the end everyone remembers Bianca and Maggie and everyone knows they were so much better than Bianca and Lena. yeah?! andyone remember her?!

Yeah!! The suspense is killing me too!!!! : ) 

"...loving someone makes you feel that you can say 'I love you' knowing that they might not say it back..."

The winner is sati_49!  Congratulations, your entry won the BAM sock monkey signed by Eden and Ellzabeth!  Thank you all for participating and for being apart of the AfterEllen community.

Love,

Bridget & Baby Bridget 

Congrats Sati!! Well deserved!!

www.myspace.com/xenite29

Congrats Sati!! Well deserved!!

www.myspace.com/xenite29

Congrats Sati!! Well deserved!!

www.myspace.com/xenite29