Just want to say that Xena and Gabrielle were not the only WLW ship or individual lesbian/queer characters in Xena. There were female characters meant to be love interests for either one of the 2 leads. And there were female characters that were represented as a couple. Specifically goddess Athena and her champion Ilainus.
All under very strict censorship and restrictions - sure. But still very much intended as proper representation for the LGBTQ+ community. Either the actors will tell you that themselves or the writers for those characters will. Jacqueline Kim, who played Lao Ma, told me directly that Lao Ma was intended as a love interest. That they were most definitely writing and portraying her as bisexual or - if the line “You’re wrong. I don’t eat meat” is any indication - a lesbian forced to marry and conceive children with a man. That was very intended.
So it wasn’t just something they allowed to happen with the leads. They intended this with many of the side or recurring characters. Representation was all over Xena.
When you consider it’s a 90’s show - that’s remarkable.