Kate Oates wants a same-sex kiss in a "mainstream soap" to receive "zero complaints".
The ‘EastEnders’ boss has opened up on the level of "homophobia in our society" and admitted scenes featuring gay couples still receive a backlash from some members of the public.
She told RadioTimes.com: "I’m looking forward to the day when a same-sex kiss can be shown on a mainstream soap and the duty log receives zero complaints – because then we’ll be in a much better place as a society."
But Kate admitted there are a lot of "obstacles and obstructions" for same-sex relationships from society.
She said: "There’s a paradox there because one of the things that makes viewers root for the couple and makes the story compelling is actually the thing we’re trying to change: the fact that there’s still so much prejudice.
"There’s still so much homophobia in our society, and we’re glad to use our voice to try and change that."
Currently, Callum Highway (Tony Clay) and Ben Mitchell’s (Max Bowden) relationship is a big focus on screen, showing that things have moved on to some extent since the late 1980s.
At the time, the BBC received complaints when the soap’s first gay resident Colin Russell (Michael Cashman) kissed boyfriend Barry Clark’s (Gary Hailes) forehead.
The character’s mouth-to-mouth kiss with later love interest Guido Smith (Nicholas Donovan) was also met with a backlash.
However, this summer the cast were delighted to hold Albert Square’s first Pride parade as the Walford residents gave a nod to the real-life London-based event, which celebrates LGBTQ+ achievements.
Speaking at the time, Luisa Bradshaw-White (Tina Carter) said: "It makes me really proud. The first-time ever in soap we’ve done Pride. There were 108 supporting artists, it was just actually like Pride.
"They were so amazing, there were drag artists, it was just insane. It was so colourful and it’s so exciting."
Kate Oates: Same-sex kisses should get ‘zero complaints’
