While Home and Away has managed to introduce a gay character for a short stint, rival soap Neighbours is streets ahead when it comes to including gay and lesbian people in depictions of Australian life.

Recently on the show same sex couple Aaron Brennan, played by Matt Wilson, and David Tanaka, played by Takaya Honda got engaged.

Now the show has filmed their wedding episode which will air in September. Takaya Honda posted a behind the scenes shot from the set, revealing that Magda Szubanski will also be appearing in the episode.

Honda told the BBC that it was a “historic moment in Australian TV”. While co-star Wilson said it was a highlight of his career.

In true soap opera style the couple’s path to the alter hasn’t been straight forward, David has been through a lot recently discovering who his real father is, coming out, and having a fling with another man. With several months until the wedding episode airs there’s sure to be more drama along the way.

With soap operas taking so long to bring realistic gay couples to the screen, you can only wonder how long before a transgender or non-binary story line will take to reach the screen.

OIP Staff