Roundup of lesbians on international TV: Emmerdale, Verbotene Liebe, Podia Acabar o Mundo, and more!

While lesbian and bi visibility on American television might be pretty poor these days, there are some interesting developments happening with lesbian/bi TV characters in other parts of the world. Here are updates on some of the more popular ones:

Grande Fratello (Big Brother Italy) – Italy

AE reader Laura tipped us off that Italy’s ninth season of its version of Big Brother has two female contestants who came out as lesbians: 31-year-old street artist Siria, and 23-year-old butcher Leonia, 23. (Siria has had girlfriends and boyfriends in the past, but has reportedly indicated a preference for women moving forward).

These women are the first openly gay female contestants on a reality show in Italy. Italian readers, keep us posted on how these two do in the game!

Plus Belle La Vie (More Beautiful Life) – France

Celine (Rebecca Hampton) and Virginie (Virginie Pauc) have decided to have a child together. (Yay, more pregnant lesbians on TV!)

AfterEllen.com reader KJaneway wrote in to tell us she bumped into Rebecca Hampton in Paris recently, and had a quick chat with her about her character Celine:

[Hampton] said she is very enthusiastic about playing the role, one of her close friends being gay, and that although the producers were a little unsure about it, the ratings are awesome, and approval very good. She also noted that since she started playing a gay character, she has had tons of very positive mail, and that she is very happy about it. (BTW I told her you announced the relationship on afterellen.com, she was very excited about it and proceeded to check on it as soon as I mentioned, on her iPhone, which I thought was very cute!)

That is cute!

Emmerdale – U.K.

AfterEllen.com reader redraisin wrote in to update us the revival of the short-lived romantic relationship between teenagers Debbie and Jasmine, who are now living together as roommates.

Last month Jasmine discovered just how dodgy [her boyfriend] was and he flew into a rage and tried to rape her. Debbie walked in and smashed a chair over his head knocking him out. He then recovers and starts attacking Debbie, at which point Jasmine stepped in and beat him to death with the broken chair.

It’s gotten exceptionally interesting as the two have tried to cover up the murder and in the process Debbie has declared that she never stopped having feelings for Jasmine and she would go to prison for

her if it meant them not parting.

Eli, their accomplice, catches them kissing and thinks they’re about to double cross him on the murder cover-up, which I believe could be the beginning of the end.

Ah, rape and murder – nothing brings a lesbian couple closer! Except maybe pregnancy.

Podia Acabar o Mundo (The World Could End) – Portugal

In a November BLWE, we mentioned that that the primetime soap Podia Acabar o Mundo has a doctor, Cláudia (Diana Chaves), and a medical student, Sónia (Ana Guiomar), who were going to share a kiss – and they did.

AE reader Shiffie wrote in to describe the scene:

Sónia prepares a romantic evening for Cláudia, since they haven’t been together since London! Claudia kisses Sonia and tells her she misses her, then they sit on the sofa and talk about the decision to come back to Portugal, to face Sonia’s family and how different life is in Portugal.

Later, Sonia came out to her parents and introduced them to Claudia. They didn’t take it too well, since they are fairly tradition and don’t understand how two women can get married and have kids. (Clearly they haven’t watched enough American TV!)

Verbotene Liebe (Forbidden Love) – Germany

There may be a bit of a love triangle going on on the German soap Verbotene Liebe, between Carla (Claudia Hiersche), Charlie (Gabriele Metzger), and newcomer Stella (Anne Wis), who joined the show in December as the new manager for the castle Koningsbrun.

Carla is gay, Stella is probably gay, and Charlie appears to be straight.

Or Charlie could be Stella’s mother. Or something else entirely. Regardless, it looks like Carla and Stella are headed for a relationship. Keep up on the show’s twists and turns in our forum topic on the show.

Do you have more updates on the shows above? Let us know in the comments!