First, let's give credit where credit's due: Showtime's Queer as Folk normalizes gay and lesbian relationships in a way no other show on television has ever done. Dysfunctional, melodramatic, and often frustrating relationships, yes--but gay ones.

In Queer as Folk we finally have a show where gay and lesbian sexuality is depicted as the rule, rather than the exception--a radical departure from the scraps thrown to us by other shows via once-a-year "gay episodes" or the occasional gay characters whose sexuality is introduced primarily to develop the storyline of the straight characters.

Because of this inclusion, because it is the first series which allows us to temporarily forget we are the "other" in American society, Queer as Folk will always hold an important place in the history of gay and lesbian visibility on television.

But of course, that doesn't mean it couldn't be improved--particularly where the lesbian characters are concerned.

Queer as Folk follows the lives and loves--or more accurately, the club-hopping and sexual escapades--of a group of young white gay men in Pittsburgh, PA, and a token white lesbian couple. Melanie (played by Michelle Clunie) and Lindsay (played by Thea Gill) are connected to the group of gay men through Lindsay's prior relationship with Brian (they were once lovers) and now through Melanie and Lindsay's child Gus (Brian is the father), even though Melanie and Brian don't really like each other (Melanie considers Brian a selfish jerk, but then, so do all of his friends.)

For the first two seasons, the women's storyline has mostly revolved around squabbling about Brian, or money, or not having enough sex. Pretty typical stuff for lesbians in a long-term relationship, but not exactly exciting television, particularly in contrast to the crazy goings-on of the men in the series.

But this is one of the reasons the lesbian couple was written into the series in the first place--to serve as the show's moral center, a paragon of commitment and nurturing compared to the other relationships on the show. Although the women themselves are hardly perfect--Melanie is prone to anger management issues and impatience, Lindsay has a tendency to whine and overindulge Brian, etc.--their relationship is clearly meant to be closer to perfect than any of the men's, as illustrated by the introduction last season of the ever-popular lesbian-wedding storyline, in which Melanie and Lindsay finally tied the knot.

Trying to spice things up a little, the writers introduced a storyline at the end of last season in which Melanie briefly cheats on Lindsay and they break up for awhile, and another one in which an ex-flame of Melanie's shows up and strains their relationship until a threesome with Melanie's ex Leda re-ignites Melanie and Lindsay's sexual flame and order is restored to the universe.

But racy as these storylines were for the characters of Melanie and Lindsay, they were tame compared to the slew of one-night-stands and double-crossings the male characters are involved in every week.

I'm not suggesting that the lesbian characters should behave in the same outrageous manner as the male characters do on the show, or even criticizing the lesbians' relationship as unrealistic--in fact, in many ways, Melanie and Lindsay are a more realistic lesbian couple than any other on television (although it's a rather small pool to draw from in the first place).

But the problem with Queer as Folk is that certain aspects of both the gay men and the lesbians are over-emphasized to the point of turning all of the characters into stereotypes; neither gender comes out looking too great. Ironically, for a controversial, boundary-pushing series, Queer as Folk often employs gender stereotypes at their most extreme: men are reluctant to commit while women are eager to settle down. Men want to party while women want to raise children. Men want sex and women want intimacy.

It would be more realistic and more interesting if the series were to explore both the outrageous and domestic impulses which co-exist within every character, regardless of gender.

But of course, a balanced approach doesn't usually generate great ratings.

The writers' relentless (sexist) emphasis on Melanie and Lindsay's stereotypical "womanly" traits (e.g. nagging, arguing, and obsessing over motherhood) is particularly annoying given that both characters clearly can be interesting and thought-provoking. At least a few times each season, you see glimpses of their potential, of the great characters Melanie and Lindsay could become if only they were allowed to do something other than serve as a prop to the boys' storyline.

It should be noted, however, that even a half-realized Melanie and Lindsay is better in many ways than any other lesbian couple on television. They actually have sex, for one thing (even if it's infrequent), which other TV lesbians rarely do because it's still considered too controversial for network television. And although the screen time devoted to Melanie and Lindsay is minimal compared to the gay male characters on Queer as Folk, it's still far more than most lesbians on TV.

Michelle Clunie and Thea Gill are both good actors with realistic on-screen chemistry--if they were allowed to have real storylines and multi-faceted personalities, they would easily outshine most of the alternatives currently offered on network television.

Last season's aggressive, sexy biker-chick Leda (played by Nancy Sakovitch) provided an interesting contrast to the more sedate Melanie and Lindsay, as Leda clearly has more in common with Brian than Lindsay and brought out Melanie's edgy side. Leda appeared to be the writers' answer to the "boring lesbians" criticism, and while her character did mix things up a little, she rode off into the sunset at the end of Season Two.

Which brings us to the new season stretching out before us, and the question of whether the lesbian characters on Queer as Folk will finally get a life that doesn't revolve around motherhood or supporting the male characters.

So far, it doesn't look too likely.

In the opening episode of the third season, Melanie and Lindsay are out with the guys at a club, and then shown eating with them the next day at the diner while planning their eight-year anniversary party. Then there is a scene in which Lindsay gives Brian advice about Justin (who just dumped him) while walking in the park with baby Gus, and there are several short scenes throughout of Melanie and Lindsay teasing Ted and Emmett about their budding romantic relationship. There is also a scene in which Justin comes to their house and talks to them about Brian.

Finally, we have the anniversary party, in which it is revealed that Melanie and Lindsay actually have lesbian friends! And that there are people of color in Pittsburgh!

The relationship between the two women appears to be very solid on this anniversary, with none of the distance and awkwardness that plagued their relationship through much of last season. They even spend most of the episode laughing and joking with each other and their friends, which has got to be some kind of record for Melanie and Lindsay (since they usually spend most of their screen time arguing with each other or listening sympathetically to some gay male tale of relationship woe).

So what's changed? From the first episode, it appears that this season the women may be more consistently integrated with the male characters than they have been in the past, eating and partying with them (the lesbians don't usually "party"). The writers also appear to have adopted a lighter tone with Melanie and Lindsay, and to put to rest (at least temporarily) the issue of whether their relationship will survive.

But the upcoming episode promos and spoilers indicate that the women's role in the series really hasn't changed all that much: after two years of telling us otherwise, the writers have inexplicably decided that Melanie is suddenly able to get pregnant--and of course, what else is there to do with a lesbian couple on TV then give them another child? Perhaps the women could go on vacation to Chicago for the weekend and suddenly go into labor, whereupon ER's Dr. Weaver could deliver their child in County General and then swap lesbian-insemination tips.

The writers have also neatly arranged to have one of the central gay male characters be the father, providing endless future opportunities to revolve the women's storylines and interaction with the male characters around parenting issues.

While there are several other storylines or issues the writers could focus on (such as Melanie's non-existent career as a lawyer, for one), it appears that they have chosen in Season Three to take the easy out again: motherhood.

This says as much about their opinion of women as of lesbians.

Season Three of Queer as Folk has only just begun airing, however (although filming has already wrapped), so we still don't know exactly how Melanie and Lindsay's storyline will unfold this season. Perhaps the writers will abandon this second-child storyline after a few episodes, or perhaps they won't, but they will allow the women to become more fully realized characters beyond their roles as mothers. Maybe we'll even see Melanie go to work now and then.

Or perhaps Melanie and Lindsay will move to L.A. and join the cast of The L Word, where they can finally have a life beyond babies and boys.

July 2003 Update: The writers did indeed develop the second-baby storyline for Melane and Lindsay, and did not expand their character development beyond that, so that when Season Three ended, the couple was just as sidelined and stereotyped as they were in the first two seasons.