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COPYRIGHT 2001 Liberation Publications, Inc.
Promiscuous gay men. Bickering lesbians. Underage sex. PFLG-waving moms. These things happen. But should they be on television for the world to see? Fervent fans and critics of Showtime's QUEER AS FOLK face off.
Are love-struck Michael and the controlling Dr. Dave headed for splitsville?
Will love-'em-and-leave-'em Brian ever acknowledge that he's developed a genuine bond with young and restless Justin?
And what about Emmett? With all his pals pairing off, will he be left single and alone? And Ted--isn't he just asking for trouble by taking in that meth twinkle Blake?
And now that Melanie and Lindsay and their baby are back together, will they live happily ever after?
As Showtime's Queer as Folk ends its first season--the last episode, revolving around Brian's tumultuous 30th birthday and promising cliff-hangers aplenty, airs June 24--the ongoing debates that have dogged the series since its debut in December are sure to intensify. As the first dramatic series on American television to focus unapologetically on a circle of sexually unabashed gay men, QAF, as it's often called, has been a lavender lighting rod from the very beginning.
The show's Web site--which Showtime says draws 300,000 unique visitors a month--has played host to impassioned arguments. "I can totally relate to the characters," enthused one visitor, Rick, hailing the series as a breakthrough for its unflinching presentation of gay lives. "I have known people like Michael, Brian, Emmett, Justin. I think we all have moments like the characters, longing for someone we can't have, longing to be the beautiful one, confused about love and lust, etc." Others, like a visitor signing himself Tolver, have reacted with alarm, worrying that QAF's flank sexuality--especially its major plot thread focusing on 29-year-old Brian's dalliance with the then--17-year-old Justin--can only spell trouble: "This is very bad. Gay men as promiscuous child molesters. The religious right will use it as a weapon to sway Middle America against gays.... Nowhere in this series is there any evidence of stable gay men who are productive members of society."
That feared backlash never materialized. Though the Family Research Council aimed an obligatory broadside the show's way, cultural conservatives generally steered clear of Queer. "The religious right can't make a credible case against a show that's on pay TV late at night--most people tend to side with the Right to freedom of privacy and freedom of choice, no matter what the content," says Wayne Besen, a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, a gay lobbying group. "Plus a lot of religious conservatives don't get Showtime--or at least don't acknowledge that they subscribe to a network that advertises `No Limits.'"
But Queer as Folk has clearly struck more...
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