Editing Xena: Warrior Princess (section)

===Influence on the lesbian community===
[[File:Xena and Gabrielle kiss.jpg|alt=On the left is a tall black haired woman, dressed in leather. She is bending down to kiss a young, slightly shorter, blonde haired woman.|thumb|220px|right|[[Xena]] kissing [[Gabrielle (Xena: Warrior Princess)|Gabrielle]] in the [[Xena: Warrior Princess (season 2)#Episodes|Season 2]] episode "The Quest".]]
''Xena'' has enjoyed a particular cult status in the [[lesbian community]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hanmer |first=Rosalind |date=2014-07-04 |title="Xenasubtexttalk": The impact on the lesbian fan community through its online reading and writing of lesbian fan fiction in relation to the television series Xena: Warrior Princess |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14680777.2012.754778 |journal=Feminist Media Studies |language=en |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=608–622 |doi=10.1080/14680777.2012.754778 |issn=1468-0777}}</ref> Some of the lesbian [[fan (aficionado)|fan]] base see Xena and Gabrielle as a couple and have embraced them as role models and lesbian icons.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.afterellen.com/TV/xena.html |title=Xena and Gabrielle: Lesbian Icons |website=AfterEllen.com |access-date=October 31, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061019015939/http://www.afterellen.com/TV/xena.html |archive-date=October 19, 2006}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.girlmuseum.org/project/warrior-princess/|title=Girl Power Revisited: Xena, The Warrior Princesses' Heroic Legacy|last=Sweet|first=Anne|website=Girl Museum}}</ref> Xena's popularity was successfully utilized by [[Subaru]] when trying to establish a healthy base of lesbian customers: one ad had a car with the license plate "XENA LVR" (Xena lover).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/06/how-subarus-came-to-be-seen-as-cars-for-lesbians/488042/ |last1=Mayyasi |first1=Alex |title=How Subarus Came to Be Seen as Cars for Lesbians |date=June 22, 2016 |magazine=[[The Atlantic]] |access-date=March 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20180304123732/https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/06/how-subarus-came-to-be-seen-as-cars-for-lesbians/488042/ |archive-date=March 4, 2018 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

A subject of much interest and debate among viewers is the question of whether Xena and Gabrielle are lovers.<ref name="xena">{{cite web |last= Young |first= Cathy |url= http://www.cathyyoung.net/features/whatweowexena.html |title=What We Owe Xena |website=Cathy Young |date=September 15, 2005 |access-date=September 29, 2009}}</ref><ref name="leonard">{{cite web |url=http://archive.salon.com/july97/21st/xena970703.html |title=Who Owns Xena? |last=Leonard |first=Andrew |date=July 3, 1997 |work=Salon Magazine |access-date=January 2, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060719053422/http://archive.salon.com/july97/21st/xena970703.html |archive-date=July 19, 2006}}</ref> The issue is left deliberately ambiguous by the writers. Jokes, innuendo, and other subtle evidence of a romantic relationship between Xena and Gabrielle is referred to as "lesbian subtext" or simply "[[subtext]]" by fans.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="leonard"/><ref>{{Citation |last=RANDELL-MOON |first=HOLLY EVA KATHERINE |title=QUEERYING SUBTEXT AND FANDOM IN XENA |date=2019-12-01 |work=Queerbaiting and Fandom |pages=112–117 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvrs8xtj.14 |access-date=2024-11-03 |publisher=University of Iowa Press|doi=10.2307/j.ctvrs8xtj.14 }}</ref> The issue of the true nature of the Xena/Gabrielle relationship caused intense "[[Shipping (fandom)|shipping]]" debates in ''Xena'' fandom, which turned especially impassioned due to spillover from real-life debates about [[same-sex sexuality]] and [[gay rights]].<ref name=xena/>

Many fans felt that the sexual nature of Xena and Gabrielle's relationship was cemented by an interview given by [[Lucy Lawless]] to ''Lesbian News'' magazine in 2003. Lawless stated that after the series finale, where Gabrielle revives Xena with a mouth-to-mouth water transfer filmed to look like a full kiss, she had come to believe that Xena and Gabrielle's relationship was "definitely gay". "There was always a, 'Well, she might be or she might not be' but when there was that drip of water passing between their lips in the very final scene, that cemented it for me. Now it wasn't just that Xena was [[Bisexuality|bisexual]] and kinda liked her gal pal and they kind of fooled around sometimes, it was 'Nope, they're married, man'."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lucylawless.info/articles/lesnews03/index.html |title=Lucy Lawless |work=Lesbian News |date=January 2003 |volume=28 |number=6 |access-date=October 31, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030627055431/http://lucylawless.info/articles/lesnews03/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 27, 2003 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

The ''Xena'' fandom also popularized the term [[wikt:altfic|altfic]] (from "alternative fiction") to refer to same-sex romantic [[fan fiction]].<ref name="Lo">{{Cite web |last=Lo |first=Malinda |date=January 4, 2006 |url=http://www.afterellen.com/Print/2006/1/fanfiction.html |title=Fan Fiction Comes Out of the Closet |website=[[AfterEllen.com]] |access-date=July 19, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080117044113/http://www.afterellen.com/Print/2006/1/fanfiction.html |archive-date=January 17, 2008}}</ref>