Rumer Willis' Legit Lesbian Romance on “90210”

How many times has a hot young straight female character on a nighttime soap suddenly crushed on and subsequently kissed another hot girl ... just in time for sweeps?

These carefully orchestrated sexual exploitations have very little to do with LGBTQ representation in the media and everything to do with girl-on-girl titillation aimed at heterosexual males.

The CW, a network built largely on teen melodrama, has used this very tactic in the past and even implemented a new twist, courting Gossip Girl's gay fans with a hotly hyped kiss between pretty-boy lead Ed Westwick and a male character. But according to show insiders, the lesbian relationship a character strikes up on 90210 in the new year will not be for the purposes of a short-lived ratings grab.

Rumer Willis, daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, will play Gia, a spunky new West Beverly High student who falls hard for Jessica Lowndes's character, Adrianna. 90210 executive producer Rebecca Sinclair promised LGBT fans of the series, "This isn't a fling. We're coming at this [relationship] from a genuine place and not going, 'Let's do a titillating story that will grab some promotion.' This is a real aspect of teenager life that's interesting."

Sinclair admitted, "There's been a real void in the 90210 universe in terms of gay and bisexual characters," and therefore the show wouldn't shortchange Gia's character by diluting her sexuality. The show's stars talk about Willis joining the cast and she discusses her character below:

Tell us: Will you watch Rumer Willis's lesbian love story on 90210? What TV shows have gotten their gay story lines genuinely right: Greek, Degrassi: The Next Generation, or, something else?

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