BEST
HIGH-PROFILE LESBIAN(S) Ellen
DeGeneres While Ellen DeGeneres maintained a low profile
this year (at least until last week),
the continued success of her daytime talk show and her ability
to appeal to millions of Americans make Ellen a positive force
for lesbian visibility even if she never mentions her sexuality
on-camera.
Amelie
Mauresmo, Rosie Jones & Michele Van Gorp Although
there are many lesbians in professional sports, few have been
able to come out without risking their livelihoods, but this
year French tennis player Amelie
Mauresmo, golfer Rosie
Jones, and basketball player Michele Van Gorp challenged
that assumption. Mauresmo has been openly gay for a few years
and has taken her fair share of criticism from other players
about not being feminine enough, but she got the last laugh
in 2004 by becoming the highest-ranked female tennis player
in the world. Jones and Gorp, meanwhile, came out publicly this
year despite the LPGA and WNBA's general preference that lesbian
athletes stay closeted, and neither appear to have experienced
negative career consequences because of it. All three women
are an inspiration to female athletes, gay and straight.
WORST
HIGH-PROFILE LESBIAN
Mary
Cheney Although
politics doesn't often qualify as entertainment, the lines were
blurred this year when Mary Cheney's sexual orientation became
the subject of the televised vice-presidential debate, followed
by countless newspaper and magazine articles, TV news coverage,
and even a Saturday Night Live skit. None of this was
initially Mary's doing, but that was part of the problem: missing
from all the debate over Mary's sexuality was Mary herself,
who refused to comment publicly on this or any other issue.
Rumors that she was behind the Republican's "how dare you"
defense at the mention of her alternative sexuality didn't help
matters, nor did the fact that she actively supported the campaign
of an anti-gay president. Clearly Mary didn't seek to become
the poster child for the gay marriage and sexuality debate,
but by her silence she helped the Republicans reinforce the
idea that calling a lesbian a lesbian is offensive.
BEST
MUSICAL GROUP OR PERFORMER Melissa
Etheridge From
her low-key openness about her relationship with wife Tammy Lynn
Michaels to her decision to go public with the news of her breast
cancer diagnosis, Melissa
Etheridge continues to garner respect—and new fans—among
both gay and straight Americans.
WORST
MUSICAL GROUP OR PERFORMER
t.A.T.u.
The Russian pop duo finally fessed up to faking a lesbian
relationship for profit, disappointing many lesbian/bi teens and
making a joke out lesbianism (and themselves).
BEST
ALLIES
Bryan Fuller & Todd Holland Bryan Fuller
and Todd Holland, the gay co-creators of the short-lived Wonderfalls,
gave us the only new lesbian character on network TV in 2004—and
a closeted Republican one, at that. Although the series, which
debuted in March, only lasted four episodes before being canceled,
the character of Sharon is a reminder of what can be achieved
when writers rise above stereotypes to create three-dimensional
lesbian characters.
WORST
ALLY Spike
Lee Spike
Lee's heterosexual-male-fantasy version of lesbianism She
Hate Me falls squarely in the "thanks, but no thanks"
category of lesbian visibility. It reinforced all the old stereotypes
about lesbians secretly yearning for men, and then it was peddled
as a liberated view of lesbianism. Sorry Spike, we're not buying
it. With friends like these, who needs enemies?
That's
it for this year! Check out our new 2004
timeline for more details on how events unfolded.
