I read this today and I thought it was very well thought out and defended the situation quite appropriately. It reflects my feelings on the subject pretty much bang on. It's about rules and labels and how maybe your sexual preferences aren't the be all and end all of who you really are.
They also pose the question as to why it's more accepted if a straight character experiments with someone of their own sexual persuasion. If that's not questioned quite as closely, why should a gay character not fall for someone of the opposite sex? It might not happen all the time, but it *does* happen.
Even Charlie Condou, who plays Marcus, admits "Even I had a relationship with a woman in my mid-twenties, and I was too scared to talk to my gay friends about it at the time because of their reactions to it."
The writer of the piece says "The writers of Coronation Street itself are, if anything, posing questions about the elasticity of sexual orientation and identity, and what happens to Marcus and Maria’s relationship should be of greater focus, not the relationship itself." and I agree.
Ultimately, I think the relationship between Marcus and Maria will not work out. For one reason, Maria *always* falls for the wrong man and for another, as much as Marcus probably does love Maria, I think he's in it for the wrong reasons. Family is the draw here for Marcus, I'm sure and that might not be enough to go the distance in a relationship that he's not altogether comfortable in.
Time will tell.
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