An expanding LGBT storyline on “One Life to Live”

Oliver and Kyle are going to have to make some room for some other gay happening in the fictional town of  Llanview!

One Life to Live’s grand diva Dorain, gloriously played by Robin Strasser for 30 years, wants to beat her nemesis Viki (Erika Slezak) so badly in the mayoral election that she’s going to pretend to be a lesbian to get votes!

Reports TV Guide’s Michael Logan: When Dorian learns that the Llanview Gay and Lesbian Alliance is supporting Viki, she hatches a plan to win the LGLA vote by having her campaign manager-boyfriend David (Tuc Watkins) fake being gay. When David refuses to go along with the stunt, Dorian hires a new campaign manager, a calculating lesbian named Amelia (Tia Dionne Hodge). Soon after, Dorian holds a press conference and reveals she’s in love with Amelia and intends to marry her.

Their wedding won’t be a simple affair. In fact, it’ll be part of a mass marriage of 22 same-sex couples, orchestrated by the LGLA to bring worldwide attention to the gay-marriage issue. In staging the epic nuptials (airing October 30 and November 2), OLTL hired some 100 extras to play brides, grooms, cops, reporters and protesters. Nick (Nicholas Rodriguez) and Kyle (Brett Claywell) are among those who‘ll get hitched that day—that is, if Kyle’s true love Oliver (Scott Evans) doesn’t stop them.

Here is part of the TV Guide Q&A:

This is a heck of a way to mark your big anniversary!
[Laughs] Anything’s better than pouring tea on OLTL and gracefully fading into the woodwork but who would have imagined this? When I found out what the writers had in mind for Dorian, I thought it was weird, scary, totally unexpected. I quickly went running to check: “She’s not actually going to try and experiment with being a lesbian is she?” I asked. “No,” came the answer. So this is more like Dorian’s pathology spinning out of control, where the adrenalin has so kicked in that it’s frying out her brains. It’s nothing logical or even sane. She’s gone. She jumps to the moon in an instant. The writers have often reignited the rivalry between Dorian and Viki, now they’ve thrown kerosene on it. I get alarmed when the script calls for a warm look or a kind gesture between those two. I think, “There goes my career!”

What’s with David refusing to pretend he’s gay? He’s king of the schemers. The eternal brat. This seems on a rather odd place for him to draw the line.
I know! How could he betray me like that? [Laughs] Can’t you just hear David giving the “I am a gay American” speech?

So, this lesbian thing is all fakery? Dorian has no inclination that way whatsoever?
No. None. None. Nope. Don’t see it

Would it bother you if she was so inclined?
No! No! Hey, excuuuse meeee! Go on Facebook and you can see me kiss Lea Delaria [OLTL’s Delphina]. We did that 10 frickin’ years ago on the show. Oh, I was very dismissive of that claim from All My Children that they had daytime’s first girl-on-girl kiss. I could be wrong but I believe Lea and I beat them to the punch. Lea tells me that if I ever show up in Provincetown they’ll do a parade for me. That kiss was my idea, thank you very much. Lea came in as the psychic who claimed to be channeling Mel Hayes [Dorian’s late husband, played by Stephen Markle]. Dorian was so convinced the psychic was bringing Mel through that I said to the director, “Why doesn’t Dorian kiss her on the lips?” And so we did it that way. But in Dorian’s mind she was kissing Mel, not another woman.