Cat Cora Turns Up the Heat

OMG she's so great!! (and HOT)

lol as a culinary student who happens to be a lesbian too, i respect her so much. thank you so much for her article!!

I was so happy to see the article. My siblings and I love the Food Network and Cat Cora has always been my favorite. Now I have even more reasons to love her.

Is definately gorgeous! I love her smile. Wow, she has a family to be jealous of. I love it! We need more "out" lesbians in the media. I saw we start our own crazy, stalkerish fan club. Ok fine -- we can drop the stalkerish part. -Rachel

I was super excited to see this piece on Cat Cora. I think she has such a great personality-she seems so sweet and laid back about everything. Except winning an Iron Chef Battle, of course...cause then she's bad ass.

Sarah, any plans on trying to get an interview with Cat?

I'm surprised that for all the people who voiced their opinion about Portia looking too much like Joely Richardson, (on Nip/Tuck), more people haven't mentioned how much Cat looks like her partner.  I can't tell which one is Cat in the People picture. 

Lisa

Anyone who trades liberty for security deserves neither liberty nor security -- B. Franklin

Thanks for the article, Sarah!

I've been a fan of Cat since her early days on the Food Network.  I'll be happy when she gets more face time.  I hate Iron Chef but I always seem to watch it when she's on it.

Great to see another woman succeeding in a typical male role. it's even nicer to find she is one of the 'family'. She can cook for me anytime!

as a chef and can admire her accomplishments, i have to admit her reluctance to be involved with the gay press/cyberspace brings her down a couple of notches in my book. oh my god, did i just say "notches"? oy.

if she's comfortable being out in People and FHM (to each her own, but i really did not like that shoot- i thought it really made her seem super-hetero, so much so that when i saw it, i thought she was. i couldn't imagine any self-respecting lesbian, or professional chef for that matter, posing like that) then why not any number of gay publications or AfterEllen???

whoa! sorry for the rant; i just get bothered by foks who identify as queer but refuse to hold hands with the rest of us...

hhagen DONT LIKE IRON CHEF BUT LOVED IT WHEN SHE AND SOME GUY HAD THEIR OWN SHOW ON THE FOOD NETWORK, COULD WATCH HER COOK WITHOUT THE RUSHING AROUND NONSENSE. CANT LEARN ON THING ON THAT SHOW. BUT HER OTHER ONE YOU COULD, PLUS WATCH HER. SO GLAD SHES OUT.

Wooo Hoooo ! I love Iron Chef, but mostly cuz of her.

My Editor is on vacation. Peace takes work hippies.

I didn't even know that. All's I used to know was that she was one of the only visible female chefs that I ever heard about. I learn something new every day.

I was enjoying that article until I got to the bit about FHM, then I'm afraid Ms Cora sank more than a few "notches" in my estimation. She'll get the tits out for the fellas but won't speak to the sisters? Hmmm... No deal for me, I'm afraid. I like to see women principled, smart and empowered. She's headed down another road altogether.

Love Pussy xx

Eh, I love her regardless.  She's great to watch on Iron Chef (One of my favorite shows) and I'm happy to see she casually came out rather than making a big deal out of it.  I'm tired of the expectations many lesbians put on famous lesbians - They need to be some poster child running around waving a rainbow flag.

If she wants to pose in FHM showing off her assets - Well, good for her!  I completely understand and respect her decision.  Those magazines are always full of 20-something women and it's nice to see her represent!

_________

Just for Lesbians (video)
For all your styling needs!

I happen to be a Food Network occasional watcher and thought Cat was hot WAY before I found out she was gay.  She has the look of a "lil 'ol gal" who would stereotypically be married to a huge, handsome, football player type (guy).

 I am absolutely ECSTATIC to see that this attractive, intelligent feminine woman happens to also be gay--and vey much in the public eye.  We need MUCH more of this type of representation in order to crush the stereotype held by so many bigots  that all gay women are wanna-be men who are just too darned homely to get a man anyway. 

 For all those feminine women like myself who want people to know that gay women are of all shapes, sizes and types of appearance, THANK YOU, CAT FOR YOUR BRAVERY !!

i, too, have grown up gay in Jackson, MS. and i can really respect cat cora because i know how unaccepting jackson can be. there is literally NO gay community unless you are 18 and can go to the only gay bar in town.

Being a member of ethnic minority group in canada thought me early that one is going be treated as minority as long as one demands to be treated like minority. i think it is me who decides if i want to be treated as a professional who happened to be middle eastern or a middle eastern who happened to be landed in this country by a bad mistake! i'm not talking about denying what you are and disconnecting with your people, but your roots don't have to be all there is about you. what i'm trying to say is that ethnicity, sexual orientation etc. is not the essence, is the flavour!

so i think i understand why she grant interviews only to mainstream media, and i believe for the same reason she casually acknowledged her sexual orientation. i mean how could you expect people to act like its no big deal that you are gay, when you make it such a big deal yourself?

Not only can she cook, but she looks gorgeous doing it. i think i'm in love. who wouldn't want a woman who can cook AND look so freakin hott! that jennifer sure is lucky. good article Sarah, and don't give up on that interview maybe it'll come this year, i'll keep my fingers crossed.

I love, love, love her! and now even more!

 

-Nathiest

Well would ya look at that... after reading this article, I turned on the tv and guess who's on the holiday edition of Iron Chef?!

PS: The camera just zoomed in on her wedding and engagement ring. Girl's got some serious bling!

Here's the thing, hetereosexuals don't need to go around the world declaring their sexuality - so why should I (or Cat Cora) have to! Obviously she has made no attempt to hide her orientation she's just gone about living her life; and loving her lady...good for you Cat Cora.

 As far as her posing with FHM goes, well maybe that's not a direction we might not have all taken for a variety of reasons. But it was her choice, I don't think it's fair for anyone to condemn her for doing it. We spend plnety of time here in our AE community objectifying our fellow females (ie. our very own Hot 100 List - if that's not objectification I'm not sure what is). it seems though that the moment the other gender wants to enjoy what we already know to be luscious and lovely we get all upset and climb very high up on our proverbial horses...I think we need to ask ourselves why. Would there be any comments about Ms. Cora's photo shoot had the shots been in Curve instead of FHM?

If a woman has the goods and wants to show them off on her terms well bully for her...again good for you Cat Cora.

 

her wife is lucky, shes married to a chef. she must get amazing meals. i bet there are no tv dinners in their fridge.

i want a wife who is a sushi chef! make me spicy tuna rolls...mmm.

actually, i'm not gonna be picky. any women that can cook will due.

 

I actually really like that she is subtle in her being out.  I like that she doesn't make a big deal out of it and is just out and living her life and proud of her wife and children.  In my opinion, we need both ends of the spectrum to represent the community.  We need out and loud and we need subtle.  Both are able to represent in different ways and that is valuable. 

And if she wants to do a sexy, girly pose then that's cool.  At least she didn't do the porno mags that were asking her.  Again, both ends of the spectrum in terms of femm and butch are valuable for society to see. 

To me, she's seems like such a great role model.  She's a hard working, successful woman in a male-dominated field.  She's a good business woman, family woman, and healthy woman.  All of that is great for not only lesbians, but women in general.  More power to you, sister!

LOVE YOU, CAT!!

I always wondered if any of the female chefs were gay. Now I know at least one. Great Article. Don't sweat it. I thinkthat it will become more popular for "out" celebs to do mainstream press before the Lesbian/Gay/Bi press. You'll see a lot more of that in the future. In all Fairness, the L/G?B Press shouldn't be mistaken for tabloids. If only these "out" celebs can grow out of that stigma and ignorance. If anybody who is going to have there back,it would be us.

So I don't know if anyone posted this yet or has seen the holiday episode of Iron Chef that pairs Cat with Paula Dean and Tyler Perry with Robert Irvine.

Anyway, the secret ingredient was sugar and every dish was a dessert. Cat was chopping up the small, round starkist mints. The host, Alton Brown, comments, "Iron Chef Cora is chopping up candy canes," and to this Cat answered, "Just call me Peppermint Patty."

Oh, the irony.

Turn up the heat that is.  And she can cook!  I suck at cooking, so anyone with cooking skills would be great to have around.

As to not giving an interview, I can certainly understand why she wouldn't.  That's a lot of pressure.  Maybe she not ready to shoulder the responsibility of being a lesbian role model/activist/poster child.  Maybe she figures if she doesn't make a big deal out of being gay, then people will start acting like its normal.  So she is helping lesbian visibility.  No maybe not in a stand-up-and-wave-a-giant-pride-flag kind of way, but she is giving the community visibility nonetheless. 

I just think its ironic that because people are celebrities we expect them to feel comfortable being out and active.  Hell, I'm still afraid to tell my grandparents, (my parents were hard enough) and here she is out to the world.

With the abundance of recaps, vlogs, and interviews, articles like these have been rarities on Afterellen.com for quite a while. It's nice to see an article of this format show up.

my partner always loves to watch the lifestyle network.and it includes the food network..and i happened to also like chef cora and guessing that she's gay adds all the more to the admire factor. but anyway, we cannot blame her if she's not doing interviews regarding her personal choice of relationship..i mean, she's got it all already...its not like she tried to hide it. i think she's just living the life she wants and i think her partner also has the same choice. hey! what else can one ask for? :)

OMG i love her, she's so beautiful successful and out and openly there... I like that about her... and also, we've got the same last name hehehe... the Cora's!!!!

I haven't picked up an issue of FHM in a few years. Maybe I should start pickin them up again. Only thing is if the other picture look like the one in this article, not cool. Her smile looks like she was waiting to long for them to snap the pic. She's got a cute smile but that pic is not becoming