Lindsay Peterson, Queer as Folk

Lindsay Peterson (Thea Gill)

Lindsey was the domestic partner (and later wife) of Melanie Marcus. Lindsey and Melanie were seen as the stable couple on the show even though they had their share of problems over the seasons. They had two children together, Lindsay was the biological mother of Gus (via artificial insemination from their friend Brian Kinney), and Melanie the biological mother of Jenny Rebecca from donor and friend Michael Novotny.

Melanie and Lindsey were rarely the focal point of the storylines on the show and even though they both had successful careers most of their storylines revolved around them being mothers. Most of their struggles involved parental rights and custody battles for their children.

Over the course of the show’s 5 seasons, they dealt with infidelity twice, once when Melanie had an one-night stand with a woman in Season 1, and again when Lindsay has an affair with a man, Sam, in Season 4. This caused a separation between Melanie and Lindsey, who moved in with her mother. When her mother tried to set her up with another man Lindsay told her that in spite of her infidelity she was still a lesbian. In 2007 After Ellen named Lindsey sleeping with a man the second worst lesbian TV moment.

At the end of the series Lindsey and Melanie reconciled and decided to move to Canada with their children, to avoid further government and personal discrimination for being a same-sex couple.

Appearances:

• 83 episodes.

Female love interests:

• Melanie Marcus (Michelle Clunie, lesbian, regular, 83 episodes, wife)

Relationship story arc with a woman: Yes

Male love interests:

• Sam Auerbach (Robin Thomas, recurring, 5 episodes)

Relationship story arc with a man: Yes

Male love interest after being identified as a lesbian? Yes

Filter Relationship Arc:

• Female (Regular), Male (Recurring)

Storyline during sweeps? No

[1] A relationship story arc is defined as explicit, developed on screen, and lasting more than 3 episodes. It is listed as questionable or subtext if romance is only implied, mentioned instead of shown on screen, part of a dream sequence, or otherwise not explicit for the viewer.
[2] Sweeps episodes air in February, May, July and November, the periods when advertising rates are set. A character is marked as "sweeps" when there is a very limited number of episodes that address their sexuality, all air during sweeps period, and the storyline is otherwise ignore/dropped.