I always thought it was more out of convenience. They had to kill somebody in the massacre, so the guest stars got it because they were the most expendable (namely Luke and Ashley Mitchell). It was such a cop-out though. With Luke, mainstream shows on American network television back in the 80s were still having a difficult time portraying gay characters realistically because they couldn't let them kiss and behave like the non-gay characters. It limits the storylines they can be given (especially in something like Dynasty which was all bed-hopping). They tried putting a gay couple in bed together in "Thirtysomething" in 1989, and it caused uproar with the advertisers (I say *beep* 'em, it was a great episode). So even in the 1990s, American producers like Spelling were still cautious. Matt in "Melrose Place" got a bit more screen action than Steven in "Dynasty", but it was still blatantly limited in comparison to the heterosexual characters. Things have changed a lot in recent years though, with leading gay characters getting very physical in shows like "Brothers and Sisters". And cable television has gone much further than that.
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