As Tammy Lynn Michaels quickly discovered when she and Melissa Etheridge became involved, you can't start dating one of America's Lesbian Sweethearts and expect to stay closeted--something de Rossi surely knew when she began dating DeGeneres.

De Rossi appears to have adapted to the new scrutiny by combining her characteristic guardedness with select moments of openness, still refusing to say much about her sexuality on the record--telling Paper magazine "As much as I'd like to tell you about my private life, if I did, it wouldn't be private"--but saying a little more now than she used to, and openly attending high-profile events with DeGeneres (something she almost never did with Gregorini).

De Rossi and DeGeneres made their first public appearance together at an after-party for the Golden Globes in January, and then attended the SAG Awards and the Grammys together in the weeks following. De Rossi is also a frequent audience member at the tapings of DeGeneres's talk show, and DeGeneres has begun to mention her relationship with de Rossi in interviews, as she did as a February 5th call-in on Ryan Seacrest's radio show--although like de Rossi, she says very little about the relationship beyond acknowledging its existence.

Why does de Rossi's degree of openness about her sexuality matter to anyone but her? For exactly the reason she states--because it is important that people "see gay men and women having big careers and very full, rich lives." And even with all of the progress we've made on that front in the last few decades, today most Americans can still count on only two hands the number of gay women that fit that criteria.

While it is certainly not de Rossi's or DeGeneres's responsibility to represent all lesbians, as public figures, their sexuality does carry more weight than most people's, whether they like it or not. So while idle curiosity does fuel some of the public's interest in how de Rossi and DeGegeneres present their relationship to the public, its affect on lesbian visibility makes it of interest to the gay community.

Sexuality is just one part of who we are, as de Rossi tells Paper magazine. But until we've lost count of the number of high-profile women who are open about their lesbian relationships, the willingness of de Rossi and others like her to be open about their sexuality still matters. Interviews like this one are a step in the right direction.

Find more AfterEllen.com articles on Portia (and Ellen) here.

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