New Zealand: Gay row hits Shorty

TVNZ has been accused of trying to censor Shortland Street by asking producers to pull a gay male couple storyline.

South Pacific Pictures producer Jason Daniel says the state broadcaster is concerned about scenes of two men in bed together.

He claims they wanted the storyline dropped but eventually accepted re-edits of the controversial scenes.

TVNZ has denied asking for the storyline to be withdrawn, but wanted one scene re-edited, at its expense, because it could cause "parents some unnecessary difficulties in explaining it to their children".

The storyline, which starts this week, shows receptionist Gerald Tippett, played by Harry McNaughton, kissing a male friend. He is also seen in bed with him, partially naked.

Daniel said the re-edited scene involved one of the men ducking beneath the covers twice.

There was a suggestion he was performing a sexual act on the other, but the scene was "sped up" after TVNZ raised concerns.

Shortland Street, which screens at 7pm, has shown two men in bed before, most notably in 1997, when receptionist Moira Crombie discovered her son, Jordan, in bed with a chemist called Ewan.

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