Enough with the longing looks and steamy glances. One Life to Live gays Kyle (Brett Claywell) and Fish (Scott Evans)—known to their patient, hopeful, fans as “Kish”—will finally commit to each other as a couple. It happens November 2 just as Kyle is about to marry Nick (Nicholas Rodriguez) as part of a symbolic, politically motivated wedding of 25 same-sex couples. The openly gay Evans gave us a preview of the big day.

In scenes airing October 29, we see that Fish—who has spent years denying his sexuality—is in charge of controlling the anti-gay protestors at the mass wedding. How perfect is that?
Isn’t that ironic? He’s holding back this crowd that’s chanting things like “Gay Is Not The Way!” It’s all he can physically do to not hurt someone. The people closest to him know he’s gay—his parents, his roommates—but he gets caught up in everything and has this big crazy outburst in front of the protestors and ends up coming out on national TV. The scene was awesome to shoot because everything I’ve ever wanted to say to certain protesters in real life was right there in my script—and I got to say it in a safe setting. Fish gets to yell at these people and be like, “What’s wrong with you? Look at yourselves! Look what you’re doing!’” And in the midst of yelling all that he says, “I’m gay!” I don’t think he realizes he’s coming out on live television, he’s just so heated and in the moment.

Sounds like it’ll be a smash hit on YouTube.
I hope so. It’s great that YouTube has been getting our story out there in a much larger way, especially with what’s going on in the world right now. It just blows my mind that we keep hearing about more and more gay bashings. We need to keep reaching people and never give up. It was weird playing the scene where Fish came out to his parents and they chose to reject him because my own real-life coming out story was 180 degrees from that. [Mrs. Fish was played by Evans’ real-life mom, Lisa Evans]. But I could still relate. I’ve had friends who came out to their parents and were flat-out told “I hate you.” It’s hard dealing with any kind of material like that, but it was good to experience it.

What kind of response did you get to those scenes?
So far it’s been really great. I think everyone’s feeling for Fish. I don’t think anyone is saying his parents made the right decision. At least I hope not. Your heart has to go out when there are problems between kids and parents. I’ve gotten letters from people who say they’re in the exact same situation with their parents and it’s so sad to keep hearing that.

I’m told Fish is worried that his father may have seen him come out and kiss Kyle on TV. Is he always going to be caught up in these daddy issues?
Fish still hasn’t heard from his parents since he came out to them. Things weren’t left on the best of terms, so he suddenly has the realization, “Oh, my gosh, my parents were probably watching this and just saw me come out!” If there’s any hope of reconciliation, this is probably going to ruin it. His dad was his hero for his whole life, and you don’t want to be shot down by your hero. That’s not ever going to go away.

Will Fish’s parents return to the show?
I don’t think so at this point, but you never know. If we don’t see them anymore, I hope there’s at least a phone call or something, just so Fish isn’t left hanging.

Maybe there’s hope. We were left with the feeling that mom might soften dad up.
Or divorce him. [Laughs] Did I say that out loud?

Will Fish’s coming out make things difficult for him on the job?
There’s a scene where one of his fellow cops says to the crowd after one of their chants, “Oh, that’s a good one! I like that! I wish I was over there with you!” These aren’t just random police officers, they’re Fish’s co-workers and they don’t all know [about him being gay].

Let’s get back to “Kish.” They’re going to give it a go as a couple but Roxy [Ilene Kristen] tries to rush things by urging them to marry with the rest of the couples.
[Laughs] The guys both realize they should probably go on a date first. After everything that’s gone on between them, there’s no way they’re about to put a ring on it just yet. But, yeah, they decide to be a couple and even that won’t be easy because something always comes up—no pun intended. Kyle is a med student on call, Fish is a cop on call, so it’ll be tough to schedule a relationship. It’ll be frustrating for the fans who’ve been waiting so long for them to get together but, eventually, they’ll get what they want. We gotta take it one step at a time. I hope we’re shattering [the notion] that gay guys can’t wait to get into bed. That’s a stereotype. They’ll be spending time together when they can. He comes over to Fish’s place for Thanksgiving. It’s all very, very sweet. It’ll be nice to see the relationship develop.

What’s with the concern about soap viewers and how much gay content they can handle? There seems to be this assumption that the daytime audience is in a bubble, not watching prime time and sheltered from what’s happening in politics.
I read blogs where people say “I don’t need to watch this gay stuff on my television!” I’m like “Are you blind? “ Are you not living in the same world I’m living in? Because gays are all over prime time. They’re all over the news with “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the fight for equality. I hate to break it to you Midwest, but there are gay people all over the United States! What’s wild in my life right now is that my uncle, Mike Capuano, is the congressman for the 8th Congressional District in Massachusetts and he’s currently running to fill Ted Kennedy’s vacated seat. He is a huge, huge supporter of gay marriage and equal rights—that’s a big part of his campaign—and a lot of people are coming forward to back him. Barney Frank is his No. 1 booster. I’m going to be working with him over the next few months. It’s crazy how my worlds are colliding. Real life and my TV life are all tying together and that’s really pretty cool!