Mar 10, 2006  |  By: BRIAN MOYLAN  | COMMENTS     

THEIR RELATIONSHIPS ARE scoffed at by the general public and aren’t recognized by the government. In many places, they have to keep their love secret because being found out could lead to horrible consequences.

No, this isn’t a description of the romantic lives of gay men and lesbians, but of polygamists.

"If there’s a group more ostracized than polygamists, then I don’t know who it is," says Mark V. Olsen, who created the new HBO series "Big Love" with his creative and romantic partner Will Scheffer. The show follows Bill Henrickson (Bill Pullman) a man who lives outside Salt Lake City (but is not a Mormon) with his three wives, Barb (Jeanne Tripplehorn), Nicki (Chloë Sevigny) and Margene (Ginniffer Goodwin). The show premieres Sunday, March 12, at 10 p.m.

Scheffer originally thought the idea for the show was "yucky," but after months of research, Olsen, who wrote HBO’s miniseries "Mary Chestnut’s Civil War," finally convinced his partner, the mind behind the AIDS drama "In the Gloaming" and the lesbian movie "If These Walls Could Talk 2," it was a good idea for a show.

"It’s the subversive nature of how we deal with family values," Scheffer says is what convinced him. "I think what’s really exciting about the show is the nonjudgmental look we have on our characters. It enables us to dramatize the way a family works without being cynical."

Then there’s the old saw that gay marriage is going to lead to polygamy. "Will and I have watched the country become divisive with an increasingly strident debate about the culture wars and what is and is not a family and what should be an accepted family," Olsen says. "We want to examine it at a different level without labels. Let’s take a look at people as people and find the values of family that are worth celebrating separate of who the people are and how they’re doing it."

That isn’t the only love that HBO is sharing with its gay subscribers this spring. June marks the return of hit original series "Entourage" and "Deadwood." Last season ended with "Entourage’s" evil agent Ari (Jeremy Piven) leaving his job to start his own agency with his gay assistant (and object of derision) Lloyd (Rex Lee) in tow. Of course, both are back for more back-and-forth barbs.

Rumor had it that "Deadwood" was going to include a gay character for its third season of cussing and Western drama, but, apparently, that is not the case.

There are two lesbian-centric documentaries coming up on the channel. On Thursday, April 6, Sundance favorite "All Aboard! Rosie’s Family Cruise" charts the course of the maiden voyage of the gay vacation company started by Rosie O’Donnell’s partner Kelli. On April 26, HBO Sports unveils its documentary about lesbian tennis legend Billie Jean King.

Not to be left out, Showtime is getting even gayer on April 1 when it re-airs the classic television special "Liza with a ‘Z’: A Concert for Television." No, it’s no joke. The special has been digitally restored and will be broadcast for the first time since 1973.

Also finally making its way to cable is the newest season of the British favorite "Doctor Who." From gay writer Russell T. Davies (the original "Queer as Folk") the newest season about the time-traveling doctor aired on the BBC last March. An addition to this season is bisexual character Dr. Jack Harkness, played by gay heartthrob John Barrowman. The Sci-Fi channel starts the season on Friday, March 17, at 10 p.m.

Unfortunately, gay sitcom "Will & Grace" is coming to an end. While we all knew the current season would be the show’s last, NBC announced that the final episode will air Thursday, May 18 at 8 p.m. with a one-hour retrospective (read "clip show") and a final one-hour episode.

AS USUAL, THERE is no shortage of gays and lesbians on reality television.

Bravo’s "Top Chef," which starts Wednesday, March 15, at 10 p.m., will have bisexual Tiffani Faison and gay man Dave Martin vying for the big prize in this culinary competition.

Fox pushes the reality envelope with "Unan1mous," which starts Wednesday, March 22, at 9:30 p.m. The show puts nine people, including "gay activist" Jameson, into a "bunker" to fight for $1.5 million. No one is allowed to leave until a winner is named by unanimous vote, but each week one of the players is eliminated from the running.

Speaking ...