When AfterElton.com first started covering As the World Turns and the coming out of Luke Snyder, the interest and positive reaction was overwhelming. When associate editor Brian Juergens started liveblogging each Nuke episode, those posts quickly became one of the most popular features on the site. When we started covering Germany’s Forbidden Love and Britain’s Hollyoaks earlier this year, the reaction was perhaps even more positive.

That led to our article The Best Gay TV is in Europe, which drew huge numbers of readers and we realized just how interested gay viewers were in these varied and often groundbreaking storylines.

For a soap fan like me, getting paid to write about these soaps is a lifelong dream. And thanks to the folks here at AfterElton.com, I’m finally getting the chance. My name is Anthony D. Langford and THE GAYS OF OUR LIVES is AfterElton.com’s new weekly column looking at gays in soaps and other dramatic series from the United States and around the world.

What shows and characters will we be keeping a close eye on? Here’s a sampling…

Hollyoaks – How will the show follow up with a new gay character following the popular saga of gay teen John Paul McQueen? Perhaps with smoldering hot Ravi Roy, played by Stephen Uppal. Ravi has been in town for a few months, being right hand man to Warren Fox, the town thug, and dating Nancy Dean, a girl with the world’s worst dye job. But following a split with Nancy (she wrongly accused him of dealing drugs), he made a sudden pass at Russ Owen. He tried to pass it off as a joke, but later admitted to Russ that he liked girls and guys.

This makes Ravi that rarity on television, a bisexual man, and it’s a refreshing addition to the soap landscape.

Stephen Uppal

All That Matters – Of all the current gay soap couples, none have gone through as much as Germany’s Roman and Deniz. During their steamy love affair, they dealt with gay bashing, ruined careers, multiple infidelities and drug use. These days they rarely communicate (can you blame them!), except for the occasional one night stand. The characters are currently in different orbits, but one hopes the show will bring the couple back together. Their storyline has suffered its share of poor plotting (and still does), but there is no denying the physical spark between the two leads.

Deniz (Igor Dolgatschew) & Roman (Dennis Grabosch)

Forbidden Love – Wildly popular in Germany, Christian and Oliver have become so beloved here in the States that American soap publications such as Soap Opera Weekly are doing stories on the couple. Sizzling chemistry and great acting and solid plots have made them a fan favorite. Unfortunately, like Roman and Deniz, the couple have been on the backburner of late. With one actor leaving the show for several months to do a play and a new head writer at the reins, one wonders what the future holds.

Christian (Thore Scholermann) & Olli (Jo Weil)