Yow! Well I'm NOT changing my rating. This is basically a BAD episode. Oh, I get what Jeri Taylor was trying to say, but Riker is not the Crew member to do this thing.
One of the weakest TNG Eps ever. Mainly, because Riker would NOT go for Melinda Culea even out of the alien makeup and allegedly "androgynous" aspect of said aliens. She not only is not his type, she is WAY not his type. Especially since Riker prefers women, and Culea is playing a Sexless Alien. But I get the statement about Alternate Lifestyle, having lived on Castro Street for several years as a straight, and learning how to accept people's choices.
Riker repeatedly shows his preference for "Sultry" dark haired females: Epitomized by Carolyn McCormick as "Minuet" in the First Season Ep "11001001" - This is Riker's Ultimate "Dream Girl" - If she were real, Riker would have had her. But as she was not real, Riker commonly is attracted to women who are similar, namely Counselor Troi, and sometimes Ensign Ro. Through the series, we've seen Riker parade a large amount of women through 10-Forward, and at one time he even has romantic Banter with Guinan (But only for Wesley Crusher's benefit). I honestly think he would not have been interested in Culea's character, at least not romantically. And Ironically, she plays a similar role in The X-Files, as a woman with Lupus who has a crush on Mulder.
Therefore, it was not only wholly and completely out of character for Riker to not only fall for this person, but that Riker was determined to leave STARFLEET for her, Riker would never have done this, not with his Aspirations of becoming Captain, attained only in Star Trek X: Nemesis.
Now, I see no problem with Riker wanting to experiment with a race that could be either male or female, but to end his CAREER for, er, I guess the proper pronoun would be "them"? Would never happen.
Now Jeri Taylor had a good idea with this story, although it was unbelievable with Riker playing the Love Interest, it may have worked with "Broccoli"/Dwight Schultz - Or Geordi, even. Or, as somebody else pointed out, why did it even have to be a male member of the enterprise crew? The same person properly pointed out that this episode is an allegory of events which we may or may not have seen in our own lives.
Giving this a "5" because it is still a TNG Ep, and had some good things in it- The main scientific conundrum of the episode is actually very interesting. But I am not going to speak about what that was or how they solved it. And I am toggling the spoilers button back "off", because at no time have I talked about the actual conundrum of this episode or the basic plot.