The social impact of the Reese and Bianca relationship is continuing to have an impact abroad. On a Dutch soap opera a brochure showed up featuring an image of Reese and Bianca at their 2009 groundbreaking nuptials. Here is what was said about the show and the featuring of the brochure:
AMC’s Bianca & Reese Pop Up On Dutch Soap GTST
ALL MY CHILDREN’s Bianca (Eden Riegel) and Reese (Tamara Braun) were seen on Dutch soap opera GOEDE TIJDEN SLECHTE TIJDEN on Friday, on a marriage equality brochure. GTST fan and We Love Soaps contributor Mark offers us a recap:
Nuran Baydar (played by Toprak Yalçiner) and Rik de Jong (played by Ferri Somogyi) have feelings for each other. But because Rik isn’t muslim Nuran feels like she can’t be in a relationship with him. Both of them have started dating other people and both of them are rushing into marriage. Rik with Yvon Terstal (played by Terence Schreurs) and Nuran with Bilal Demir (played by Sinan Eroglu). Especially that last marriage is doomed because Bilal is actually gay.
On Friday Nuran went to a bridal shop to try on her wedding dress. Rik saw her through the window and couldn’t resist to enter the shop. As an excuse he said he wanted to pick up some brochures for Yvon. He wasn’t really paying attention to those brochures because one of them was the one about gay marriage.
When I saw the episode I didn’t notice it was Bianca and Reese. I saw it today when the show uploaded it on their website. The show always does this with letters, cards and photos that are used in the episodes as props. It’s a fun extra for the fans.
click to view a clip from the show
The brochure itself talks about how gay marriage has been legal since 2001, but that there are still a few differences between gay couples and straight couples. Like when a couple has children. Only the biological parent is seen as a legal parent. The other parent has to adopt the child to become a legal parent.
Here are the front and back covers of the brochure, it’s all in Dutch with no translation.
I think it’s amazing that the Reese and Bianca story is still having an impact, particularly on the global discussion on Gay Rights Equality. It’s only too bad Chuck Pratt didn’t see it the way we did and the way the world saw it. I’m proud of both Tamara and Eden’s work and how they managed to make Reese and Bianca so valid in today’s global discussion on the rights of those who do not share equality on certain levels. The whole aspect of inequality in terms of the issue of children from a gay or lesbian couple where the other parent has to adopt the child(ren) from the union still needs some work. What is bothersome is that while surrogacy is needed in the issue of sperm/womb donor, there should be no separation between the aspect of parenting. In whatever union that is — in terms of two women or two men — they are parents. Once that decision is made to have a child, end of story. It’s no different than that of heterosexual couples.
Jumping off soap box now.
