Steven was always a shitty character

Yes, it was very tiresome how the writers couldn't make their mind up about Steven's sexuality, but I'm rewatching the show now and I think his character was a mistake from the very beginning. If you really want people to accept a homosexual character in the early 80s, it's not a very good idea to make him an annoying hypocrite who craps all over his family and the politics of the average viewer. Steven would've worked better as an a-political character. Any political ideas could very well have been expressed through comparisons between the rich Carringtons/Colbys and Matthew and his blue collar family and friends. We don't need literal mouthpieces.

And instead of having Steven and Blake clash over politics, it could've been over a lack of ambition and alcoholism due to his sexuality. It would've made him a much more tragic and sympathetic character.