Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever.
by Sarah Warn, AfterEllen.com Editor
The lesbian pop culture column

Friday, April 7, 2006

I THINK THERE WAS A GOLF TOURNAMENT HAPPENING, TOO, BUT I'M NOT SURE
I'm still recovering from my first trip to that Lesbian Spring Break We Never Had called Dinah Shore Weekend--I don't think I've ever seen that many lesbians in one place! But I suspect the secret to the event's growing popularity is that the 10,000+ attendees are not, in fact, all lesbians; I lost track of the number of bisexual women I met there, including several married women whose husbands didn't know they were there (you know who you are!). And while there was no actual Dinah lesbian stampede, there was definitely an abundance of bikinis, board shorts, go-go dancers, and, of course, visors.

To give you a feel for the mood, here are a few snapshots from the event (closeted/married bisexual women not included):

Besides meeting AfterEllen.com readers (shout-out to Darlene and Sheetal!), some of the highlights of the event for me included chatting with Mariel Hemingway and Jill Bennett about their upcoming lesbian action movie In Her Line of Fire; discovering that out actress Michelle Paradise (who stars in Logo's upcoming lesbian series The Rules) shares my fascination with string theory; and people-watching with Curl Girls Beth and Michelle.

BUFFY ALERT!
Iyari Limon, the actress formerly known as lesbian Buffy the Vampire Slayer slayer Kennedy, stopped by our booth at Dinah Shore with her girlfriend. Yes, you read that right, the woman who romanced Willow on-screen now has a girlfriend in real life, along with a burgeoning career as a chef, and a new film in the works. And did I mention she speaks three languages and has a great tan? (Yes, we hate her, too.) Look for a new interview with Iyari on AfterEllen.com next week with all the details!

NOW IF ONLY CJ CREGG WOULD GROW OUT OF HER HETEROSEXUAL PHASE
This week's episode of NBC's The West Wing included the casual revelation that one of the minor characters who has been on the series in the last few weeks is a lesbian. In "Election Day - Part 1", the staffers on the Santos campaign all enjoyed a drink together on the last night before election day, and then gradually paired off to hook up. The last woman to leave walked over to the bar, kissed her girlfriend, and off they go. It was a complete non-event, and that was the best part.