Despite being edited to be the villain, Ami consistently displayed more integrity than most of the other contestants. She never lied, and she confronted people directly if she had a problem with them. She was thoughtful, logical, and direct, but her overconfidence and her misplaced faith in Twila and Scout eventually led to her demise in Episode 12.

Scout's integrity remained a little less intact after her betrayal of Ami, but she achieved some measure of victory simply by making it to the final three, an especially remarkable feat given her bad knee and the fact that she is 20 years older than most of the contestants.

A low-key player who got along easily with most of the others, Scout survived by consistently flying under the radar. While she wasn't the most popular player, she wasn't unpopular, either, and she out-maneuvered other players mentally even if she couldn't beat them physically. She was also openly respected by the other women, even if some of that respect began to diminish as the game wore on.

Although CBS eagerly trumpeted Scout's sexuality in the press release for the series, the show's editors waited so long to disclose Ami and Scout's sexuality on-camera—despite the fact that both women came out to the other contestants in the first week on the island—that many viewers wondered if it would happen at all. But Scout was finally revealed to be gay in Episode 7, and Ami in Episode 11, and the casual way they were outed (through mentions of their respective partners) and the seeming ease with which the other contestants accepted that information was encouraging.

Although there were a few conservative female contestants who privately expressed the belief that homosexuality is a sin, they never treated Ami and Scout poorly or even differently because of their sexuality. Ami and Scout each developed close friendships with a few straight contestants, as well (Ami with Leann, and Scout with Twila).

But the producers' decision not to include any shots of the two women and their girlfriends kissing when they were reunited in Episode 11 was disheartening. Survivor Executive Producer Mark Burnett explained his decision to Entertainment Weekly with the comment that he "didn’t think it was right to show both lesbian kisses at 8 o’clock," which is exactly the kind of thinking that allows images of routine displays of affection between lesbians to remain taboo and sensational.

The interactions between Scout and Ami and their respective girlfriends that were shown on camera were sweet and intimate. Scout cried openly when reading a letter from Annie in Episode 8, and cried again when they were briefly reunited during Episode 11. Ami cheered on Crissy by yelling "I love my girl!" during their immunity challenge, and the couple won the challenge against all of the other remaining contestants and their significant others/friends. Both women's relationships were portrayed as loving and devoted, and not as something to hide or to be ashamed of (the show's delay in revealing them on-camera notwithstanding).

In the end, the lesbian contestants may not have been treated exactly like the heterosexual contestants on Survivor, but by presenting Ami and Scout and their relationships as complex and three-dimensional, the show made it more difficult for its millions of viewers to maintain inaccurate stereotypes and generalizations of lesbians. And for lesbian viewers, Survivor finally gave us not one but two women to root for.

The contestants themselves are already feeling the effects of their contribution. Scout indicated on the post-finale Survivor reunion special that the reaction by friends and neighbors in rural Oklahoma has been overwhelmingly positive since she and Annie were officially outed by the show, with complete strangers coming up to Scout to give her a hug and communicate their support. Ami, meanwhile, has become something of a sex symbol among lesbians, with fan sites and message boards devoted to her springing up all over the internet.

A mostly positive portrayal of lesbianism on Survivor: Vanuatu won't make a big dent in the challenges lesbians face in America, but it does put a human face on lesbianism in a time when that is increasingly important. As Scout's experiences with her neighbors in Oklahoma illustrate, even if Scout and Ami did not come away from the show with a million dollars, we are all richer for their efforts.

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