The two characters are a study in contrast: Sandy Lopez (Lisa Vidal, also on Lifetime's series The Division) is an out-and-proud, blue-collar Latina firefighter who likes to unwind at hockey games; Dr. Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes) is a semi-closeted, white-collar Caucasian physician with a physical disability who prefers flower shows to hockey games.

That they are both women is one of the few things these two characters actually have in common (in real life, this would probably prove too shaky a base on which to build a long-term relationship, but in television land normal rules don't apply).

It is also worth nothing that Sandy Lopez is the first recurring Latina lesbian or bisexual character on prime time television (Tamara Mello's character Lily on the former WB teen drama Popular hinted that she might be bisexual once or twice, but the writers never pursued the storyline.) With Hispanics rapidly approaching 15% of Americans, to say this milestone is long overdue is an understatement.

This is not the first lesbian relationship on ER. Kerry came out to herself last season through her relationship with the hospital psychiatrist Kim Legaspi (Elizabeth Mitchell), another relationship that broke ground on television, both for the sexual relationship itself and because of the sensitivity with which Kerry's struggle to come out to herself was depicted.

This season, Kerry developed a relationship with Sandy while simultaneously struggling to come out to her coworkers. The characters met at work a few times when Sandy came in to the ER with burn victims, and it was on one such occasion that Kerry finally asked her out.

After a few false starts, the women go out on a date, only to have Sandy dump Kerry when Sandy discovers Kerry is not out at work. Kerry asks Sandy for a second chance, Sandy drops by to visit her in the ER, and then, in a pivotal January episode titled "A River in Egypt," Sandy outs Kerry at work by kissing her in the ER lobby. When Kerry later angrily protests, Sandy claims she "did [Kerry] a favor." A few weeks later, Kerry goes to find Sandy after a deadly fire and and admits "You're right - you did do me a favor." More kissing ensues.

What is especially unique about the relationship between Kerry and Sandy is that it is depicted with a great deal of sexual attraction and passion. The physical attraction displayed between Sandy and Kerry equals what you see in most heterosexual relationships on ER and on television in general, and is not downplayed as it is in many other ensemble shows with lesbian characters. Besides kissing passionately onscreen twice this season, Sandy and Kerry have also been shown in bed together - notable considering that the total airtime shared by the women onscreen this season probably amounts to less than an hour.

So far, the narrative has focused primarily on Sandy's effect on Kerry and her self-image. Sandy provides a strong antidote to Kerry's internalized homophobia by constantly questioning her assumptions and pushing her to face her fears. Since at work Kerry is primarily dominant, authoritative, and confidant, this relationship has the effect of letting the viewers see another side to Kerry - her fears, her doubts, and her struggles. This has made Kerry a far more interesting character and impossible to write off as just a "bitch."

But continuing the this storyline is about to become much more difficult as the relationship enters its next phase. The coming-out narrative is relatively easy to explore on television now - it has already been done many times, and it is usually a short-term storyline. It has historically proven much more problematic for television shows to follow the daily ups and downs of a lesbian relationship on an ongoing basis, since 1) it is relatively uncharted territory; and 2) it requires the viewer to be more than just "tolerant" of a temporary gay storyline. Many shows have abandoned their lesbian relationships at precisely this point for these kinds of reasons (e.g. the original Ellen show).

All indications from the actresses and ER producers point to the continuation of the lesbian storyline in some form, but whether Vidal's character Sandy will return next season is still unknown (the fact that she has a full-time role on another show doesn't inspire a lot optimism.)

The good news is that this season proved that focusing on lesbian relationships won't hurt ratings - and in many cases, it actually helps (as it did with Once and Again's recent lesbian storyline). ER continues to retain it's position among the top ten series on prime time, and is currently the fourth highest-rated series for the 2001-2002 season.

This season also proved that lesbian relationships are not detrimental to commercial success - in the midst of all this lesbian passion on ER, for example, no advertising was pulled, no special warnings about adult content were slapped on the lesbian episodes, no syndicates refused to show the lesbian-themed episodes.

All of this praise is not to say that there is no room for improvement on ER. To start with, the women's relationship could have more air time dedicated to it. Although Kerry is a primary cast member who usually has at least some storyline in every episode, her relationship with Sandy is featured only occasionally. ER has always had habit of promoting some relationships and ignoring others, however, so in this respect, Sandy and Kerry's relationship isn't being treated much differently from the majority of other ER relationships.

The very fact that this relationship on ER is such an achievement in lesbian visibility on television is a testament to how far we still have to go. We shouldn't have to marvel at a lesbian relationship on television that is portrayed with equal passion, complexity, and depth as the other relationships on the series - but we do, because currently they are still few and far between.

Most producers and writers still appear to think it is enough just to introduce lesbian or bisexual characters on their show, even if these characters or their relationships are one-dimensional, non-sexual, nonexistent, or otherwise stereotypical (like the lesbian couple on Queer as Folk.)

In the late 90's, Relativity and Roseanne faced severe criticism and advertising fallout when they attempted to more fully develop their lesbian/bisexual characters, and the original Ellen show was canceled for trying to build a show around this concept. And it was only a few years ago that ER had a its own marginalized lesbian character, Dr. Maggie Doyle (Jorja Fox) - the female version of Matt Fielding from Melrose Place, allowed to exist but always in a supporting role and with nonexistent/off-screen romantic relationships.

Once and Again is a notable exception, as this season saw the development of a ground-breaking lesbian relationship between two teenagers - but it barely had a chance to be explored before the show was canceled (for reasons unrelated to the lesbian plotline).

Which raises the question of why ER has succeeded where so many other shows have failed, or failed to try? And why now?

That this storyline is overseen by a lesbian writer on ER probably has something to do with it. But there are many other factors that go into choosing how a storyline will be developed on any given show, and there have always been lesbian writers in television - so just increasing the number of lesbian writers in television won't solve the problem (although it certainly wouldn't hurt).

Perhaps the success is due to shows like the original Ellen, Will and Grace, and Queer as Folk, whose impact we are just now feeling in full. The publicity surrounding the first and the overwhelming success of the latter two have redefined what is possible on television, and it may be that ER is the first show to fully recognize and exploit this.

Or perhaps it is as simple as an idea whose time has come.

Regardless of the reasons, this development on ER will serve as a stimulus for change by demonstrating that television can be a critical and commercial success and still develop realistic lesbian characters and relationships. Which means it is no longer a question of "if" we will have widespread, accurate depictions of lesbian relationships on television," but "when."

Now if we can only get Once and Again back on the air and Willow's girlfriend back from the dead on Buffy next season, we'll be off to an excellent start.

December 2002 Update: Sandy Lopez did indeed return in the 9th season as Kerry's girlfriend, and the two are now trying to having a child together. But the screen time devoted to their relationship this season has been minimal, to the point that Sandy has only appeared in a few episodes.

May 2003: Read ER's Lesbian Relationship Dies a Long Slow Death in Season 9 for a critique of the Kerry-Sandy relationship in Season 9.