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Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever. (November 5, 2010): DJ Tikka Masala at the White House, Jane Lynch a homo for the holidays

Christina Aguilera. The singer is joining with Stonewall UK for their It Gets Better campaign, stating “For anyone who feels like an outsider, I want to say: Don’t let the bullies win, Be yourself and don’t let words get you down. It gets better today.”

Pink. Her new video for “Raise Your Glass” includes the promised same-sex wedding scene, and shows Pink in bed with a nun, sumo wrestling a rich dude, killing a bullfighter and feeding a calf human breast milk. The wedding and the nun would have been plenty for us Pink, but thanks just the same!

Chely Wright. After appearing on Larry King last month with Kathy Griffin, Wanda Sykes, Lance Bass and Tim Gunn to speak out against bullying, the singer appeared in a PSA for GLSEN’s Safe Space Campaign. GLSEN wants to provide educators with the tools they need to make classrooms safer for LGBT youth.

Boardwalk Empire. The lesbian storyline began on Sunday, revealing an affair between Angela and Mary. So far, we give it two thumbs up!

Glamour Magazine. Teen activist Constance McMillen has been named one of Glamour‘s Women of the Year. Former Glamour Woman of the Year (2005) Melissa Etheridge noted, “She stood up and said, ‘This is who I am.’ When someone does that, it changes the world. It gives hope.” We concur!

Celesbians who say “It Gets Better.” Inspiring new videos featuring Suze Orman, Cherry Jones, and Sarah Paulson turned up online this week.

Jane Lynch. The out Glee star will host a holiday special on the Fox network. TV’s Funniest Holiday Moments: A Paley Center for Media Special. Lynch will narrate clips from some of the most memorable holiday moments in television history. Now if only one of them involved a leg lamp

Portia DeGeneres. Her appearances on Good Morning America, Oprah and wife Ellen’s show to promote her new book, Unbearable Lightness, made for some fine, and enlightening, television.

The American Library Association. The ALA is adding the Stonewall Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award to its annual list recognizing excellence in children’s books. The award will honor “English-language works for children and teens of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered experience.”

Out political candidates. More openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender candidates won election to public office in the U.S. in 2010 than in any year in America’s history.The Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund reports that at least 106 of the group’s record-breaking 164 endorsed candidates were winners this week. Progress.

Grey’s Anatomy. To accommodate Jessica Capshaw‘s maternity leave, series creator Shonda Rhimes is sending Calzona to Africa! What? SheKnows.com predicts that “we’ll see tons of Callie throughout November sweeps.” Yeah, that’s when we usually see most of our TV lesbians. Sigh. Update: A new development in the most recent episode (we won’t spoil it here) changes this scenario a bit, but we’re sticking by our general complaint about sweeps week lesbians!

The A-List. A lesbian (Reichen’s sister Kalyi) momentarily appears on Logo’s gay guy version of The Real L Word, using her brief scene on the show as a platform to come out to her parents (and the rest of us). Then she’s gone. But will she be back for sweeps week?

BBC radio 5 Live. Matt Dawson, a guest on the station’s Tony Livesey Show, made a homophobic joke suggesting that out tennis champion Martina Navratilova is a man. We’re guessing that he was just feeling inferior.

The UK ban on same-sex marriage. Lesbian couple Sharon Ferguson and Franka Strietzel were denied a civil marriage license in London this week, and are now taking their fight to the courts. Ferguson told the press, “Later this year we plan to bring a joint legal action with seven other gay and straight couples in a bid to overturn the twin bans on gay marriages and heterosexual civil partnerships.”

Killing Toni. The premise of this new comedy is, “A guy gathers his friends together to murder his ex-girlfriend once he finds out she’s a lesbian.” Director and star Jim “Uke” Doiron told the Portland Press-Herald that the movie has nothing to do with hating gays, it’s just about heartbreak. Yeah, we’re calling bulls–t on this one.

Vince Vaughn. The actor continues to defend the inclusion of a gay joke in The Dilemma. He says that “making fun of stuff” can help break “tensions.” He refers to the controversy as a “censorship issue” and thinks it has been “positive.” Yep, all of the additional publicity that it has generated probably does feel pretty “positive.” For Vaughn.

The College of DuPage. The school newspaper published a piece arguing that gays aren’t entitled to human rights. The article was written by a rep from the group Heterosexuals Organized for a Moral Environment (HOME), described by Change.org as “just your average, run of the mill fringe group with a web site that says gay people should be forced to use separate public restrooms, and that homosexuality should be classified as a psychological disorder by medical professionals.” You can sign a petition demanding an apology from the paper here.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The Italian PM is using homophobia to deflect negative reactions to his alleged inappropriate relationship with a 17-year old girl. He says it is “better to like beautiful girls than to be gay.” We argue that the two are not mutually exclusive.

Nicki Minaj and Eminem. Rap’s poster child for “is she or isn’t she” speculation about her sexuality recently released a single, “Roman’s Revenge,” with Eminem, and it included some of his standard homophobic lyrics. Whether she is or isn’t, Minaj claims to love her gay fans, so she can do better.

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The court has stayed the end of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell indefinitely pending appeal, which means means gay Americans who disclose their sexual orientations still can’t enlist in the armed forces and can be discharged.

This week, Brooklyn-based deejay DJ Tikka Masala snagged a gig at the most exclusive venue in the country: The White House. Yes, that White House. A force in the queer dance scene in New York City, DJ Tikka self identifies as a queer woman and has launched many queer events in Brooklyn, including her flagship monthly party That’s My Jam. She has also deejayed in the queer scenes in Europe and Asia.

Born in Calcutta, DJ Tikka is of Indian descent, and she will be deejaying the annual Diwali Celebration at the White House next Tuesday. AfterEllen.com chatted with her about the upcoming gig, her career and being a queer woman of color growing up in a socially conservative family.

AfterEllen.com: When I first read that you were deejaying at The White House next Tuesday, I’ll admit I thought it might have been the name of a new megaclub in NYC I didn’t know about and Googled it. Nothing came up, but I did a little happy dance for you anyway. Then I realized that you were talking about Barack Obama’s house, and my head exploded. Then I did a really really ridiculously big happy dance for you. So just how did you get hooked up with this gig?

DJ Tikka Masala: I worked really hard for six years; made my own mash-ups and remixes, played a ton of shows and parties in New York City, started That’s My Jam, deejayed in countries besides the U.S., such as Japan and The Netherlands. I was at the right place at the right time when a friend I went to high school with recommended me for the gig.

When I was a kid, there was only Bollywood on the tape deck and record player, so I know my parents’ era of Bollywood music really well. I have great friends, got lucky, and was prepared with a strong deejay resume when the opportunity arrived.

AE: You’re playing the White House Diwali Celebration. Can you give a brief overview of the Diwali festival for those not familiar with South Asian culture?

TM: Diwali is a very popular holiday for a lot of South Asian folks – Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains specifically. It’s the festival of lights. Everyone lights these little clay lamps in their homes, people hang out with their families, and folks celebrate by getting together with their loved ones and practicing regional and family rituals that make the style of celebration unique to whatever part of South Asia they are from. Prayer and family are at the center of the holiday, but it is definitely one of the most important social events of the year for people in Hindu, Sikh and Jain communities in America.

When I was a kid growing up in Jersey my family used to go to Puja (Worship) for religious reasons, but they’d stay for the party and the cultural events surrounding the celebration: dance, music, and theater. With the ritual of Diwali intact in America, people from these faiths know they have a consistent time and place where they can celebrate together and catch up every year, while keeping their culture alive thousands of miles from where they are from. It’s great because Diwali spans multiple religions and language groups, so in America it’s a holiday that can bring people of really diverse backgrounds together.

AE: So this will be a totally different vibe than your parties in Brooklyn.

TM: Yes, this is a traditional religious holiday.

AE: Do you know any special guests that will be present at the festivities?

TM: My little brother! He is 9. There will be politicians and diplomats there as well. I hear Joe Biden will be giving a speech. I mean, it’s the White House – the bouncers don’t mess around! [Laughs]

AE: How did you get your start as a deejay?

TM: I met a really cool deejay named Cheb I Sabbah when I lived in California. He was mixing really traditional Indian music with electronic sounds, and we connected right away. I grew up studying Hindustani Classical vocal music. My family builds Indian instruments in Calcutta, so when I heard this guy bringing this very traditional sensibility into the nightclub in a surprisingly culturally sensitive way it gave me a whole new perspective on what deejays actually are capable of doing musically, especially in terms of bridging different cultures. I play guitar and some other instruments as well, so learning how to deejay was just like learning to play a new instrument.

AE: So you grew up in Jersey, had a stint in California, where you caught the deejaying bug. What brought you back to the east coast, specifically New York City?

TM: Grad school in Cinema Studies brought me to NYC, and I started deejaying to pick up some cash on the side, but it took on a life of its own I guess. People responded to my selections, mashups, and remixes. I got a lot of house party gigs, gigs downtown, dyke nights and artsy things.

Eventually I got tired of working for promoters though and set up That’s My Jam in Brooklyn, blocks from my house, and then that led to some international recognition from the queer scene in Tokyo – Tokyo Wrestling shoutout! Also, the queer scene in Amsterdam – PinqRadio and LoveDance shoutout! Best idea ever.

I definitely feel like support from the queer community in NYC, and the global queer community is completely responsible for so many amazing opportunities I’ve had as a deejay, and this White House gig is a prime example of that.

AE: What thoughts and emotions have been running through your head since you found out you got the gig?

TM: I’m in disbelief, and I feel really privileged to be in this position. I also hope my work finds its way to other queer kids growing up in socially conservative immigrant families. It’s totally possible to stay connected to your heritage and stay true to who you are without compromising either side, you just have to get creative. I keep telling myself that, anyway, and it seems to be working.

– by Grace Chu

This week Ellen DeGeneres played puppet master to Sofia Vergara (Modern Family). Sort of. Watch the clip below and it will all make sense. (Vergara is as loud as she is funny, so set your speakers accordingly.)

Back Stage will sponsor a free screening of The Kids Are All Right, followed by a Q&A with cast members Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, and Mark Ruffalo and director Lisa Cholodenko in Los Angeles on Nov. 16.

Attention all horror fans: Ghostella’s Haunted Tomb and In Satan’s Closet auteur Stacie Ponder is set to make a new film and she needs your help. Ponder describes Diet! Diet! My Darling! as a “feature-length slasher flick starring fashion dolls- think Friday the 13th meets Team America and you get the idea.” Watch her inventive fundraising pitch here.

Israel’s new season of Dancing with the Stars featured its first ever same-sex pairing. Lesbian Gili Shem Tov and her dance partner Dorit Milman performed a Cha-cha-cha and two of three judges enjoyed the performance. We’ll find out next week how they fared!

Lesbian comedy duo That’s What She Said will be performing a show to benefit The Trevor Project in Los Angeles this Saturday, November 6 at 8 PM. To reserve your spot, call M Bar to make a reservation: 323-856-0036.

Did you know that you can buy Alice’s actual “chart” from The L Word? Then you can add your own name(s) to it, if you dare!

Nicole Conn‘s Elena Undone, featuring the longest movie kiss ever, will be available on DVD in Feb 2011, but you can pre-order it now at a discount from Wolfe Video.

Through the month of November, In the Life will air parts of the documentary Gen Silent, about elderly members of the LGBT community and their struggles to find housing and healthcare. You can also watch the piece in its entirety on ITLmedia.org.

If you need a good cry (the happy kind), read this mom’s blog post about loving and supporting her (possibly) gay kid after he was harassed about his Halloween costume.

Have you checked out Girl/Girl Scene‘s Tumblr page?

Cher: The Film Collection DVD box set was released this week, and it includes six of her films: Good Times, Chastity, Silkwood, Moonstruck, Mermaids and Tea With Mussolini. If you never saw her acclaimed performance in Silkwood as a lesbian who is kind of in love with her best friend, make it your excuse to indulge in this cinematic treasure chest.

Want to join the cast of The Real L Word? They’re still casting for it. bad machine would love to write about you in her recaps next season.

That’s it for this week! Got the inside scoop on a hot new lesbian/bi actor/musician/TV show/film? Tell us at [email protected]. Check back next Friday for another edition of Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever.

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