7de Laan gay kiss actors’ beautiful response to homophobia and hate

The two actors who shared gay kiss on the popular soap 7de Laan have responded beautifully to being thrown into a national furore about same-sex love.

The man-on-man smooch between the characters of Logan (Simon Tuit) and Divan (Arnu de Villiers) was screened last week; a first for the long-running show.

The moment went viral on social media, generating applause, outrage and debate about same-sex love, religious intolerance and homophobia around the country.

In a powerful open letter on his Facebook page, Tuit – who describes himself as an artist – expressed his “gratitude for the overwhelming public response”.

“It’s a very heartwarming thing to see so many people coming together and actively speaking out against homophobia, judgement and (frankly) plain cruelty and hate towards other human beings,” he wrote.

Tuit noted that while 7de Laan was not the first local soap to feature a same-sex kiss, “judging from the debate it sparked, it shows that even today (after a few other TV shows have touched on the topic of same-sex relationships) we need to continue speaking about it and showing it, since so many people are still ignorant about the issue.”

Addressing religious homophobes, Tuit said: “I applaud people standing strong in their faith – what I can’t accept is your harsh judgement of fellow human beings who mean you no harm.”

He explained that he hoped that, “you’ll come to realise that whilst the Bible and Jesus spoke of many things – to love God with all your heart and mind and soul and to secondly love your neighbour as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40) is the pinnacle of His word.”

Tuit also reached out to those who may not yet be open about their sexuality. “For those who had to sit there watching that scene with a lump in your throat because possibly your father or mother or a family member started ranting off about ‘daai moffie k*k’; somebody who had to listen to a loved one expressing how ‘disgusting the gays are’ or how ‘no son/daughter of mine will ever be gay’, I hope that you will take away from this, that there is a larger society out there who accepts you, and there is a place for you in it, without you having to change.”

He went on to add: “Being different is quite possibly the thing that will give you the strength to one day be the most amazing human being that you can offer the world. The world needs you. It needs us. And there is a space here for everybody.”

“So on the day when you’re ready to take that step (and yes it will be terrifying) – when you’re ready to heave that burden from your shoulders and to accept yourself and love yourself for who you are – remember that there is a community (of decent human beings, gay and straight and other) – and we’re here for you.”

Arnu de Villiers, the other actor in the scene, also took to Facebook to discuss the phenomenal reaction to the kiss.

“I was sad to see all the negative comments, but expected nothing less. I was even more happy to see the thousands of posts embracing it and calling for equality and most importantly, acceptance,” he wrote.

“7de Laan always ensures that each character and storyline is relatable to someone and this scene was exactly that. We see it every day, but it gets bashed for being on TV. Everyone knows someone – lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender – They’re people, who love exactly like you do…”

“Last night as I scrolled FB and once again came across The Kiss, I thought ‘heck, why only me – how cool will it be if everyone can kiss and post a photo of their love. Be it straight, gay, bi, interracial, whatever!’ Let’s rather stand together and show the world that this is not only happening in soaps, but in real life – Just LOVE.”

He challenged people to share photos of their love, “be it straight, gay, bi, interracial, whatever!” with the hashtag #LoveWins to “create a bigger change”. He added: “Let’s share thousands of photos and not let it stop with this one. It’s a CHALLENGE, post your love.”