Morning Brew – Thursday, December 2: “Pariah” gets selected for Sundance, German soccer player Nadine Angerer comes out as bi

Happy Thursday! Let’s get into it.

The Grammy nominations were released last night and here’s what we got going for us: Lady Gaga is up for several awards, including one against Goldfrapp and La Roux in Best Dance Recording. (Both of their albums, though, are also up for Best Electronic/Dance Album.)

Margaret Cho‘s Cho Dependent is up for Best Comedy Album. Some other favorites: Janelle Monae is up for two awards, and Rihanna‘s “Only Girl in the World” as well as her collaboration with Eminem (“Love the Way You Lie”) are named. Read the whole list of nominees at Grammy.com.

German pro soccer player Nadine Angerer has come out as bisexual. Though there’s been speculation on her sexuality for some time, she hasn’t really talked about it publicly. She told a reporter:

I am very open about this, because I am of the opinion there are nice guys and nice women. Besides, I find it totally silly to have a general definition.

She also said it’s silly for anyone to be in the closet because being gay shouldn’t be taboo. God, I love soccer.

Dee Rees lesbian-themed film Pariah is an official selection of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Originally a short, Rees was able to expand the story into a feature after winning the 2009 Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Award. Here’s the trailer for the original short:

So cool to see the feature will be part of the competition this year. Here’s hoping it picks up some awards, a distributor, and comes to our theaters soon.

Pro boxer Christy Taylor was reportedly shot by her husband over a “lesbian affair.” TMZ writes that the athlete was leaving her hubs for a woman named Sherry, when he went crazy and shot her. She’s recovering from her wounds, which do not appear to be life-threatening. Some day, I hope all “lesbian affairs” will be reported as “affairs” only, and “lesbian stalkers” will just be “stalkers.” Equality for our mistresses and obsessives!

On the America’s Next Top Model finale last night, Kayla returned to walk in the Roberto Cavalli fashion show. Unfortunately, Tyra did not bring her back into the competition, as she rightfully should have been. But she still walked real fierce.

Also on TV last night, Maria Bello returned to Law & Order: SVU and, this time, she was in a lesbian relationship. Without giving any spoilers, let’s just say it was short-lived.

Feeling helpful today? Lesbian mom/writer Tammy Stoner is seeking funds to put out her DVD, Dottie’s Magic Pockets, the first show to help kids understand and celebrate all kinds of families.

The Daily Beast has a piece on Annette Bening and Natalie Portman and how they will face off for the Oscar. Some of their points: Annette is older, didn’t wear much make-up for the role; Natalie lost a lot of weight, trained hard and took on a more “mature” part than usual. An excerpt:

Something else that will tip the scales in either Portman or Bening’s favor is how Black Swan is received by Oscar voters. Unlike Kids, which, though it deals with tough issues, is ultimately a warm-hearted crowd pleaser, Black Swan is dark to the point of being a quasi-horror film, and includes an incredibly graphic sex scene between Portman and Kunis. At this stage, the reaction from the academy has been “divisive,” the Oscar consultant said. “I’ve heard people say it’s amazing, and others have hated it.”

See, Kids? You should have thrown in a real lesbian sex scene and you would have had it in the bag.

OK, here’s your woman in a suit today.

Funny how well that’s worked out every day this week!

Today on TV: The Ellen DeGeneres Show (check local listings), The Talk (CBS 2 p.m.), The Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC 9 p.m. and midnight) and Grey’s Anatomy (ABC 9 p.m.) (Thanks Roni!)

Until tomorrow!