By Lynn Rapoport

THE RAINBOW FLAGS are fluttering along the boulevards, the gay beat will soon be sending its vibrations through the Civic Center, and the joys of homophilia will be feted this weekend from street corner to synagogue via speeches, marches, performance art, all-night parties, consumption of controlled substances, and the time-honored tradition of public sex in front of the billboard at 16th and Market Streets. What better moment to celebrate the ascendance of international sweethearts Lena Katina and Julia Volkova – members of hot, teenage, Russian, lesbian girl-pop group t.A.T.u. – than Pride Week, when we codify our love of all things queer?

And Lena and Julia's love story is one for the ages. The two apparently used to sing together in a children's pop group, before Julia got kicked out for lewd behavior (naughty girl!). And they made their Justin-Britney-esque reconnection at a girl-group casting call amid a sea of potential hot, teenage, Russian lesbians. It's enough to make you believe in destiny.

Some have expressed doubts as to whether t.A.T.u., who take their name from a Russian slang expression meaning "this girl loves that one," are actually lesbians – confused perhaps by statements from the pair like "Everyone thinks we're lesbians – we just really love each other." Some have surmised that the onstage demonstrations of physical affection are a part of the show; the sapphic song lyrics (not to mention the entire concept of the band) the labor of someone with a stack of specialty porn mags, an overheated imagination, and an acute business acumen; the rumors of shared hotel beds the output of a hard-working P.R. office back home in Moscow. Others have described the group's performance at this month's MTV Movie Awards as a shameless, tawdry – and badly produced – attempt to draw consumers, via salacious thematic borrowings from X-rated spam, to t.A.T.u.'s full-length album on Interscope, titled, naturally, 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane. But when it comes down to it, isn't queer visibility what we're after? And what's more likely to attract a nation of viewers than a stage show that features throngs of adolescent-looking dancers in schoolgirl uniforms frolicking in the aisles of the Shrine Auditorium, stripping down to wife-beaters and undies, and ending the number in a veritable orgy of girl-on-girl make-out sessions?

These are heady times indeed for Julia and Lena, as they are for the rest of queer nation, what with the Canadian government set to legalize gay nuptials in all 13 provinces and territories. Marriage will soon be just a road trip away for many American homos set on sanctifying their love in the eyes of the state, or at least a state. And hopes are high that a concomitant acceptance by society in general is not far behind. Of course, t.A.T.u. aren't American homos. They're hot, teenage, Russian lesbians, and barely legal to boot. But there's nothing to stop them from taking in an elopement during their next North American tour – perhaps even finding time for a honeymoon at Niagara Falls.

The sanctity of marriage and a gay-loving nation would, however, present t.A.T.u. with some interesting new artistic challenges. While it's clear they count among their fans some powerful people in Hollywood, if Ashton Kutcher and P. Diddy's front-row reaction to their MTV performance is any gauge, the dramatic pathos of their oeuvre resides, in large part, in the hunted, tension-filled, us-against-the-straight-world lyrics (and banshee-like shrieking) of songs like "They're Not Going to Get Us," "All the Things She Said," and "Clowns." If it's OK to be gay, what milieu will they delve into next for naughty, taboo inspiration? The leather scene? Farm animals? Straight guys?