Greek TV cuts 'Downton Abbey' gay kiss

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ATHENS, Greece, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Greek television executives have cut a kiss between two men from an episode of the British drama series "Downton Abbey," the BBC said.

The embrace between a visiting duke and the estate's footman appeared in the installment that aired on NET Monday.

"The love affair between the two men ... was not censored," said Costas Spyropoulos, managing director of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corp. "The kiss was not shown because of the time the program was broadcast and the corresponding parental guidance warnings."

The BBC said viewers complained on social networking websites about the cut, which the liberal Syriza party described as "an extreme act of homophobia and discrimination which ... we cannot characterize as unprecedented."

The entire episode was broadcast Tuesday night at a later time.