Jessica "Jay" Copeland is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street who was portrayed by Jaime Passier-Armstrong from mid-2004 to mid-2007.

She was the show's first lesbian regular character and longtime love interest for Maia Jeffries (Anna Jullienne).

Jay arrived to the show as the estranged daughter of established character - Victor Kahu (Calvin Tuteao).

What followed on screen was 3 years of an on-again, off-again romance storyline that would see the two become married, separated and Maia eventually widowed.

Jay's contentment to her sexuality saw her a vast contrast to Maia who was at first self-conscious and shy, however following their devastating breakup, the roles reversed and the characterisation for both characters changed dramatically.

Following Passier-Armstrongs wish to leave the show, Jay was written off in a high-profile manner in mid-2007 when she became the third victim in the highly successful Ferndale Strangler storyline.

[2] Jay arrived to Ferndale to visit her father, Victor Kahu (Calvin Tuteao) with her traveling partner - Maia (Anna Jullienne).

She returned five months later to attend her cousin - Tama's (David Wikaira-Paul) wedding and soon her feelings for Maia reignited.

The two reconciled but Norman Hanson (Jacob Tomuri) came between them when Jay slept with him in a desperate bid to fall pregnant.

She bought the local bar and eventually reconciled but the issue of trust remained and they again broke up when they couldn't agree on their desperation for pregnancy.

However, only hours after she had said her farewells, good friend Alice Piper (Toni Potter) discovered Jay's lifeless body in the hospital gardens; she had been murdered by a serial killer dubbed "The Ferndale Strangler".

[4] Producers were initially hesitant to introduce lesbian characters, with head writer Maxine Fleming stating; "She's in relationships so it does come up but we have tried to avoid lesbian-based stories ... Of course when you have kids and stuff, that's the thing they want to talk about.

[15] The civil union between Jay and her girlfriend Maia Jeffries, proved a ratings hit, receiving an audience of 531,000 and beating current affair shows - Close Up and Campbell Live.

[13] When the show received criticism in 2008 over gay oral sex scenes, producer - Jason Daniel accused TVNZ of double standards citing Jay and Maia's lesbian relationship as an example.

[8] The characters civil union and the storyline that saw Jay cheat on Maia with a man was voted by fans as two of the show's most iconic moments.