In 1987 EastEnders was responsible for screening the first ever gay kiss in a UK soap opera, much to the outrage of the viewing public. A small kiss on the forehead, given to Barry from Colin, received a record number of complaints from angry viewers. In addition, the right-wing British press reacted with fury. They began a smear campaign, branding the programme 'filth' and, for a while, dubbed the show EastBenders. There were even questions in parliament about whether it was appropriate to have gay men in a family show when AIDS was sweeping the country. Despite the initial negativity, the storyline had a powerful impact on public attitudes and the show's handling of Colin and Barry's relationship was deemed by many gay activists as something of a breakthrough. Not only did EastEnders brave the wrath of many moralistic viewers and bigoted journalists, but they also exposed that bigotry through the characters in the show — most notably via the inane naivety of local gossip Dot Cotton (June Brown), who erupted into horror and ignorant self-righteousness upon discovering Colin and Barry's secret, and even spread rumours that Colin had AIDS. The episode featuring the kiss was watched by over 17 million viewers, and Colin and Barry remained on-screen for several years, accessing millions of viewers each episode — the gay community were finally being represented on mass audience mainstream television. Gradually, negative assumptions began to lessen, public opinion began to shift in Colin and Barry's favour and even Dot got used to the idea of having gay neighbours. Michael Cashman has commented: "This was a flagship BBC show, the most popular series in the country, and Colin and Barry were there day in, day out. The relationship wasn't sensationalised, and the public devoured it." The importance of Colin was so great in the gay community at the time that Cashman was asked to lead a march against Section 28, which prohibited local authorities from promoting homosexuality or the acceptability of homosexuality. Barry and Colin remained an on-screen couple until the end of 1987. Their characters were used to highlight many other gay issues, such as homophobia, gay bashing and gay legal inequality — i.e. the legal age of gay sexual consent (which at the time was 21 instead of 16 as it is today). Eventually, the differences between Colin and Barry became too great for them to overcome, they split