A Coronation Street character known as a ‘born-again Christian’ is set to have an on-screen lesbian kiss next month with a friend from her Bible study group.
Last year when the plotline was revealed it was said that TV bosses were attempting to make the soap more “representative” of modern life.
Now it has been reported that the kiss will be aired on 9 April.
Brooke Vincent, who plays character Sophie Webster, has denied the story would be “explicit”.
But one source said the kiss would be “steamy”.
The two characters, Sophie and Sian, are set to embrace each other after Sophie rejects her boyfriend’s attempt to kiss her.
According to reports, the girls’ hug develops into a kiss and Sophie says: “You are far more important to me than any lad.”
Sian is then shocked and runs away.
Miss Vincent reportedly said it would be weird kissing her actress friend.
The story is also set to include Sophie’s sister giving her support.
In April, when the story was first reported, a source said the TV bosses “are acutely aware that they need more gay characters and that they need to tackle more gay issues”.
This is the latest incident of a TV soap favouring homosexuality over Christianity.
In 2008 the BBC received 150 complaints when it mocked a ‘Christian’ character in TV soap EastEnders.
The soap showed Dot Cotton coming across two men kissing on a park bench and asking them to stop.
She was shown struggling to operate an mp3 player, while the two male characters sniggered at her efforts to engage with modern technology.
After seeing the men kiss she said: “please remember, the Lord ain’t the only one with eyes.”
In 2008 it emerged that mainstream soaps were being lobbied by groups to present their issues in storylines.
Stonewall, the homosexual lobby group, told The Guardian newspaper it had managed to get a character from Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks to wear a homosexual campaign T-shirt.
“One of our key priorities is to promote fair coverage of lesbian and gay people in the media and we work with programme makers to reflect this,” said Gary Nunn, a communications officer at Stonewall.