On April 15, 2003, after two years of dating, singer Melissa Etheridge and actress Tammy Lynn Michaels formally announced their engagement--and it was the best lesbian-related news we've had in months.

For awhile now, the only famous "lesbians" in the news have not been lesbians at all: from Lisa Marie Presley and Ginger Spice both admitting to having had a lesbian fling years ago (separately, not with each other), to Christina Aguilera suggesting Britney Spears should date Angelina Jolie, to the endless wave of interviews by that publicity machine called T.A.T.U., one hears a lot about lesbian relationships in entertainment news these days, but little of actual lesbians.

There are plenty of lesbians in entertainment, of course, but they're mostly keeping a low profile about their relationships. Ellen DeGeneres has been very quiet about her current relationship with actress/photographer Alexandra Hedison (understandably so, after the media hoopla that followed her previous relationship, with Anne Heche), and among the myriad of other closeted celebrities rumored to be in lesbian relationships (like Portia de Rossi and Francesca Gregorini), no one's talking publicly except Samantha Fox (who first announced that she was in a long-term relationship with a woman but didn't consider herself a lesbian, then later revised her statement to say she is gay, after all).

In fact, the only celebrities talking about lesbian relationships are the ones who claim to be bisexual but are not actually dating women.

There is the occasional lesbian celebrity who comes out only to cash in--like T.A.T.U., whose blatant use of lesbianism as a marketing tool is the most egregious example of this kind of lesbian-exploitation trend. Their sexuality has generated a ridiculous amount of national discussion over the last several months while real lesbian bands continue to toil away unnoticed.

At the height of their manipulation, though, T.A.T.U. can't begin to beat the masterful performance of Anne Heche in the late 90's, who (perhaps unintentionally) single-handedly did more to reinforce negative stereotypes about the instability of lesbian relationships (not to mention bisexual women) than anyone else in the history of American culture.

This recent proliferation of "news" from opportunistic lesbians and lesbian-wannabes is one of the reasons the announcement of Etheridge and Michaels' engagement is such a refreshing change: it's just two women who appear to be genuinely in love acknowledging their relationship in public with minimal fanfare. And since neither of them appears to be crazy AND they actually dated for a few years before deciding to make this commitment, Etheridge and Michaels actually seem to have a good chance of making it work (at least, as much as any celebrity couple does).

Noticeably missing from their news so far is any attempt to exploit their engagement for money or career advancement (on the contrary, if their engagement has any impact on Michaels' career it is only likely to be negative, since Hollywood is not exactly rushing to cast out lesbian actresses in mainstream films or television shows). The press release announcing the engagement was very sparing, saying only that the two would wed in late 2003 in L.A.

There appears to be no intention to turn their wedding into a reality show (ala Jessica Simpson or Melissa Joan Hart), or to sell tickets to it on Ebay, or to hype it via endless interviews. What a nice change in an era in which many celebrities feeling compelled to cash in on or (over)share every private moment of their lives!

Etheridge and Michaels' announcement will also likely have a positive impact on lesbian visibility overall. Although the two women have been dating for two years, their relationship has not been common knowledge among heterosexual Americans because most mainstream news and entertainment outlets do not report on relationships (especially same-sex ones) that are unofficial--which has been virtually all lesbian relationships until civil unions and gay marriage became possible in the last few years--both because this is seen as gossip rather than news and because they don't want to be sued for slander or libel.

A public engagement, however, is exactly the kind of official, legitimate news item which gives mainstream news and entertainment outlets something tangible to report on (and tacit permission to do so). Consequently, the women's engagement has been widely mentioned in newspapers and on TV stations and radio stations across the country, making Etheridge and Michaels suddenly America's most visible lesbian couple.

The average heterosexual American who didn't know the two women were dating or doesn't know any lesbians in real life will be mostly unable to avoid hearing about their engagement now, and the fact that their engagement is being treated matter-of-factly by news outlets will help chip away at the stereotype of a lesbian "lifestyle" that is necessarily different from a heterosexual "lifestyle" (of course, there are various types of lesbian relationships, many of which ARE very different from the standard heterosexual relationship paradigm--but lesbian relationships are not by definition radically differently than heterosexual ones).

In a few weeks, their engagement will be old news--at least until the wedding in late 2003 spins it all back up again--since there is no mystery to solve or scandalous story to tell to keep it on the front page.

But it is precisely its ordinariness and factual (rather than interpretive) basis that makes this announcement such a blessed relief from the onslaught of lesbian exploitation, heterosexual experimentation, and constant speculation about so-and-so's sexual orientation which passes for lesbian-related news these days.

Melissa Etheridge and Tammy Lynn Michaels are just two people getting married. What could be more boring--and these days, more refreshingly straightforward--than that?

September 2003 Update: Melissa and Tammy were married in a private ceremony in Malibu, CA on September 20th.