Throughout the last decade, momentum has been building as TV writers, filmmakers, actors, journalists, and authors have chipped away at the invisibility of lesbians and bisexual women in entertainment.

Then, in 1997, Ellen DeGeneres and her television character both came out as lesbians. Unlike many other pioneer moments in the representation of lesbian/bisexual women in entertainment, this one proved to be a watershed event in the public awareness of lesbian/bisexual characters in mainstream movies, music, books, and television shows.

While debate continues within the gay community about the long-term effects of Ellen's coming out, the very fact that it was discussed by the media at such length and for over such a considerable period of time ensured that subsequent lesbian/bisexual characters, storylines, and onscreen events would be much less controversial. Consequently, the last nine years or so, we have seen an "explosion" (in relative terms) of lesbian/bisexual visibility in entertainment and the media.

But we still have a long way to go. On TV, the majority of the lesbian characters today (and historically) are white, middle-class, and conform to conventional standards of feminine beauty (i.e. lipstick lesbians). With a few exceptions, there are few lesbian or bisexual women of color on television. In the last few years, the lesbian baby boom trend has taken over on TV, and although there has been a proliferation of lesbian characters on cable TV, there has been a backlash on network TV that makes lesbians increasingly sparse.

Mainstream movies still rarely feature lesbians/bisexual women as prominent characters, while still too often conforming to the old stereotype of lesbian/bisexual as villain or slut when they do. And even though the number of films for lesbians/bisexual women has almost tripled in the last five years, quality films for or including lesbians are still sparse. And for lesbians of color, representation is almost nonexistent in both mainstream and gay and lesbian films.