I've never watched Xena.
Actually i don't like subtext either, i think it's better to hit biggots right in the face with what scares them. They are as shocked in either case, so why bother going soft on them.
Those biggots are not very smart because if they don't like what their children see in that show they could easily say something like "See, that's how people were living before christianity. They were commiting a lot of mortal sins, doing things that go against nature and God! That's why God had to send his son Jesus to save us all from eternal damnation."
