I think for a lot of women/people in the 25-35 age category, Xena was an early sign we weren’t straight. I remember realizing that I thought her and Callisto were attractive the way I was supposed to think Hercules was.

Yup. I definitely think you’re right. Like, I never thought Hercules was attractive at all. He was a strong dude but I was definitely not interested. I was a really odd kid though, and I always thought the scrawnier, bookish dudes were more interesting. And Xena. Xena was way nicer to look at in my young (like, idk? 6 or 7 year old) opinion.
It’s like one of those things where you recognize queerness in others before you recognize it in yourself or even have the right words for it.