Last week's episode of ``Dawson's Creek" was titled ``Promicide" for good reason. Though the characters on the popular teen soap had high hopes for the much-anticipated prom night, there was more angst than romance in the sea air for the Capeside High students -- Pacey and Joey ended their relationship during a nasty blowout, Gretchen dumped Dawson and a drunken Jen nearly fell off the cruise ship where the prom was held, only to be rescued by her date, who was secretly paid to escort her.

The only ones who seemed to be having any fun were the gay guys.

So much fun that before the night was over, the couple -- Jack (played by Kerr Smith) and Tobey (David Monahan) -- were locked in a full-blown romantic kiss. The same-sex smooch marks only the second time that two openly gay men have lip-locked on prime-time network television for all the viewers to see -- the first being on last season's ``Dawson's Creek," when the character of Jack tried to plant one on his first crush, Ethan, who returned neither the kiss or Jack's affections because he already had a boyfriend.

``This kiss on Dawson's Creek was certainly a big deal because of the length, the fact that it was lip-to-lip, the fact that Jack is finally getting a boyfriend," said Scott Seomin, entertainment and media director for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).

There have been plenty of same-sex kisses on prime time TV: Roseanne and guest star Mariel Hemingway did it on the ``Roseanne" show; Calista Flockhart's and Lucy Liu's ``Ally McBeal" characters shared an experimental fantasy smooch (both decided they liked men better afterward) and most recently, the popular show ``Friends" featured a buss between Jennifer Aniston and guest star Winona Ryder. The problem with those portrayals, Seomin says, is that the kisses did not occur in the context of an actual gay relationship. Roseanne was not a lesbian on her show, nor is Aniston's character a lesbian.

And who can forget the famous non-kiss between the openly gay Melrose Place character of Matt and his boyfriend? After all the hype, when they finally got down to the action, the camera cut away at the last second and viewers weren't treated to the full effect, as they were on the May 2 episode of ``Dawson's Creek." Seomin says such camera tricks were common in the days of more closeted television programming. Kisses were often obscured, showing only ``the back of someone's head," he laughs, or the cameras quickly cut away ``to onlookers being shocked" at the sight of a same-sex kiss.

The kiss between Jack and Tobey took place in the context of an ongoing story line. When the pair met earlier in the season, Jack was put off by Tobey's activism and in-your-face approach to being gay. As they have gotten to know each other, Jack has fought off his attraction to Tobey and come to admire Tobey for being proud to be so out. ``I admit I was put off by it, that's all I could see," Jack tells Tobey before the big kiss. ``But tonight I looked at you, I really looked at you, and you--you're funny and you're handsome and nice, and yes, out, but now it's like the one thing that put me off; it's one more thing that I like about you. I'm so not afraid anymore."

Such drama does not come easily to the television screen. Before the kiss was even filmed, ``Dawson's Creek" openly gay head writer, Greg Berlanti, sent a copy of the script to GLAAD and told Seomin, ``Let's see if Warner Brothers (the network that carries the show) allows it." The network reviewed the story, gave the go-ahead, and then approached GLAAD for assistance in stirring up interest in the same-sex kiss, while still maintaining the integrity of the storyline. Rather than promote the episode and the kiss for weeks prior to its airing -- as happened with the supposed ``lesbian" buss between Aniston and Ryder on ``Friends," which was hyped in both Time and Newsweek magazines -- the ``Dawson's Creek" story broke just one day prior to its airing with a story in USA Today.

The strategy apparently worked. ``Promicide" was the most highly-rated ``Dawson's Creek" episode of the season, and there has been almost no outcry about the portrayal of a same-sex kiss between teenage boys on prime-time TV -- a far cry from 1997, when, due to public pressure, advertisers pulled commercials from the famous ``Ellen" episode, when she merely announced that she was gay. According to Kristen Holgerson, communications director at Channel 56, Boston's Warner Brothers Network affiliate, the station received no calls about the show. ``We didn't expect any response and we didn't receive any, positive or negative," she said. But that doesn't mean that local viewers did not tune in -- the May 2 episode of ``Dawson's Creek" garnered an 8 percent share of the viewing market, or 117,000 viewers in the Boston market-a more than healthy viewing audience. ``People love the show," said Holgerson.

Well, not everyone loves the show. The Family Research Council (FRC) sounded off on ``Dawson's Creek" and the kiss between Jack and Tobey, in the April 30 USA Today article about the ``Promicide" episode. FRC spokesperson Heather Cirmo blasted the show for being ``steeped in sex," and said the portrayal of a same-sex kiss hurts ``impressionable teens who have questions about their sexuality by promoting a myth that homosexuality is something you're born with."

But David Monahan, the actor who plays Tobey does not see it that way. Monahan participated in a May 3 live online chat on Washingtonpost.com in which he fielded questions about his gay role on ``Dawson's Creek" and the historic same-sex kiss his character shared with Jack. Monahan responded to a question of whether or not the media's mainstreaming of homosexuality could harm impressionable teens by saying, ``I think art, in its many forms, first reflects important issues in our society that need attention or a voice. I think any kid out there who may be struggling with their sexuality and is offered a positive image of it can only benefit."

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