"South of Nowhere," a new teen drama on cable network The N, revolves around the pressing issues high school students face: peer pressure, racism, faith and parental expectations.

But in a groundbreaking twist, creator Tommy Lynch has given his main character a full-blown sex identity crisis. "I think it's definitely something that can be talked about now," Lynch says.

Spencer is a 16-year-old who moves with her family from a small Ohio town to Los Angeles, where she and her brothers - one biological, one adopted and African-American - are thrust into a large public high school. Spencer immediately clicks with Ashley, a streetwise sophomore who has a thing for girls.

"I like to tell people it's a love story," said Gabrielle Christian, who plays Spencer. "It's not perverted. It's very innocent. It's more about the emotional journey, rather than just two girls getting it on onscreen."

Indeed, girl-on-girl action is a well-worn device during sweeps months. "The O.C.'s" Mischa Barton, for instance, was seen in a lesbian lip lock last season.

Ashley (Mandy Musgrave) is derided by school cheerleaders as a "dyke." But we also find out she had a rather serious liaison with one of the school's jocks.

And Ashley dodges Spencer's questions about her sexuality by saying, "I'm not into labels," to which Spencer responds, "Well, everyone else is."

Lynch also refuses to be nailed down, saying Spencer's journey of sexual discovery will unfold over the course of the season. (The N has given "Nowhere" an initial run of 11 episodes.) "What we see is not what we get, and what we get may not be the same [in the future]," he said. "In the most clinical dissection of [the series], everybody there is creating their own identity and it's all a little bit off-center from what we expect."

But Spencer isn't the only character fumbling with self-discovery. Her brother Clay, who was adopted into the family when he was 8 years old, struggles with the realities of his ethnicity and the circumstances of his upbringing. Brother Glen is finding the big-man-on-campus status he had back in Ohio is not so easily attained in Los Angeles. And their father, Arthur, a social worker and recovering bohemian, is trying to be his kids' friend and parent but is ambivalent about both roles. Their mother, Paula, an emergency-room doctor, is juggling career and family while trying to reconcile her Catholic beliefs with modern mores.

The family links hands and prays before every meal. But Catholicism and homosexuality are confronted head-on when Glen chides Spencer for being friends with a lesbian. Her mother thinks she should "find a new friend." And offers solace in devotion. "I think we should all hope and pray that this girl finds her way," she says.

"I think there are a lot of people who are in conflict with their religion, and it doesn't mean they're not morally correct," he said. "It doesn't mean they don't have a spiritual identity."

Lynch has much experience in the realm of teendom. He created the variety show "KIDS Incorporated" as well as "The Secret World of Alex Mack." But he also has four teenage sons and an adopted daughter, 23.

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