I might be forgiven, as a forward-thinking, liberal, metropolitan (and not to mention gay) Londoner, for assuming that the once-endemic panic that ensued whenever two men were seen kissing on TV had long since died out. After all, it was way back in the dark ages (well okay, 1982) that Britain’s public had their first taste of soap homosexuality, courtesy of Brookside character Gordon Collins. And, then, in 1989, the unwilling masses were subjected to a shock baptism into the world of gay soap themes when the BBC allowed “Eastenders” to write the nation’s first open-mouthed gay kiss into the storyline, in all its ghastly glory.

As could be expected for the time, the outcry was enormous. The tabloids had a field day, running headlines such as “EastBenders” and branding the programme as being “filth” and “a public disgrace.” A few conservative MPs even called for the entire show to be banned, obviously fearing that this new direction could lead to an epidemic of sexual immorality and hedonism across the nation. Of course, the BBC paid no heed, and the (thankfully) open-minded board at Ofcom waved away the complaints, much to the chagrin of many right-wing politicians and Christian groups.

Now it seems like an age since the days when the media would get all jittery over a bit of queerness on the TV - and rightly so, as attitudes have changed vastly in the years hence. These days, shows are clamouring to get a gay angle on their storylines, and once-controversial themes are even making their way into shows aimed at teenagers, such as Channel Four’s “Skins.”

So why all these complaints about Heinz’s advert?

Well, for a start I guess you need to look at how the advert plays out. It’s fairly innocuous - a burly New-Yorker is shown preparing sandwiches for his kids as they leave for school, and his partner gives him a quick kiss on the lips before leaving for work. Okay, so, forgive me if I’m missing something here, but this is hardly the lubed-up, sweaty sex scene I expected to raise so many complaints (over 200 so far). Surely we can put up with a teeny-weeny peck at the end of an advert?

Well actually, no. The problem is, these guys are portrayed as having kids. And although we’re well acclimatised to a few man to man pecks on the cheek here and there, suggesting to the general population that same-sex couples having kids is a “normal” situation is definitely not something that’s going to wash.

According to the Advertising Standards Authority, many of the complaints were from parents who were concerned about their kids watching the advert. The content is apparently “unsuitable for children” and was even reported by some to be “offensive.” Well, I’m sorry, but if you’re worried about your kids being exposed to homosexuality then you haven’t got the right idea.

Okay, so explaining to a five-year-old why daddy one is kissing daddy two may not be the simplest thing to do, but we’re living in a modern world here. Parents have to accept, like it or not, that homosexuality has to be an integral part of sex education (both at home and in school) in order for tomorrow’s teenagers to grow up and be prepared for what adolescence is about to throw at them. As Stonewall have recently campaigned, “Some people are gay - get over it.”

Pretending that homosexuality is a topic which can be segregated from “normal” education has been perfectly acceptable in the past - the controversial piece of governmental legislation known as Section 21 haunted schoolteachers for years, legally obstructing them from teaching children about homosexuality in an objective an unbiased way. But that’s ancient history, and while the ghosts of Section 21 still linger in some classrooms, many schools are integrating lessons on same-sex relationships into their Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) lessons.

So, while I fully respect the right of parents to object to their children being shown this sort of content on TV, what I don’t respect is Heinz’s decision to pull the ad. How many adverts containing scenes of heterosexual couples kissing are shown every day? Literally hundreds. And let’s face it, I don’t really want to see 85-year-olds Enid and Archie smooching away without their false teeth in some advertisement for a retirement plan, but I’m not about to object to it. Fortunately, the ASA itself is upholding none of the complaints, since it treats such content equally whether it shows a heterosexual couple or a gay couple.

At the end of the day, it’s not a huge deal if one company pulls one advert because of a few complaints. And it’s not even as if the ASA forced them to pull it because they judged the content to be objectionable. But it does serve as a gentle reminder that even today, with all our freedoms and rights and opportunities, there are still barriers to be pushed aside when it comes to general attitudes towards homosexuality. We’ve come a long way since that first snog on “Eastenders,” but we’ve got a bit of work to do yet.