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The AfterEllen.com Les/Bi List!

Back when AfterEllen.com was founded in 2002, our slogan was “Because Visibility Matters.” Indeed, the idea that lesbian and bisexual women need to be visible, both to ourselves and to the wider culture, is one of the principle reasons AfterEllen.com (as well as our sibling site, AfterElton.com) exists at all. Only by being visible to family, friends and the world do we overcome the stereotypes and bigotry used to justify discrimination against the GLBT community.

In the realm of popular culture, the importance of including complex lesbian and bisexual characters in films and television shows as a means of promoting lesbian visibility cannot be overstated. The passion fans feel about LGBT storylines on shows like Glee, Grey’s Anatomy, Skins, Coronation Street and films like Black Swan and The Kids Are All Right speaks volumes about our investment in how we’re represented, and how much it matters to see see images of ourselves reflected back to us in pop culture. And if the stories of lesbian and bi characters in film and television are so important to us, then how crucial must the presence of actual out public figures be?

In the years since 1997, when comic/actress Ellen DeGeneres came out in both her real life and on her scripted television show, the number of celebrities who’ve joined the “out” club has grown remarkably. AfterEllen.com founder Sarah Warn once wrote, “In the early days of AfterEllen.com, I couldn’t find any established actors willing to talk about being gay, even when everyone knew they were.” Luckily, a lot has changed since then. In fact, just last year compiled a list of the women who came out over the course of the last decade and we’re pleased to find it so long.

That lengthy (and growing!) list and what it means to lesbian and bi women everywhere is the inspiration behind this poll. We asked you to tell us who your favorite openly lesbian/bi women and you responded with a rich sampling of familiar names from pop culture, women who you’ve come to admire because of their accomplishments as professional athletes, authors, actors, comics and musicians. While the list is not very racially diverse (highlighting an ongoing problem: limited GLBT visibility in minority communities), it contains women who have been out for decades as well as those who have only recently decided to be open about their sexuality.

While you may be on a first name basis with some of the women on this list, you may not have heard of others. For your reference, we’ll provided just a little background on all of them, and have just a bit more to say about your Top 10.

For a list of the top out men there are now check out the results at our sibling site, AfterElton.com. And If you don’t see the names of some of your favorite out women below this time, be sure to come back and vote for them again in May when we launch our annual Hot 100 poll!

Now let’s check out the results, starting at number 50 and working our way to number 1! 50. Sheryl Swoopes Born March 25, 1971, the Olympic gold medalist and one of women’s basketball’s biggest stars became the second openly gay player in the WNBA when she came out in 2005. 49. Patricia Cornwell Born June 9, 1956, Cornwell is an international best-selling author whose books have been translated into 36 languages across more than 50 countries. In the planned film adaptation of her popular crime novel series, Angelina Jolie is set to play Cornwell’s heroine, Kay Scarpetta.

48. Martina Navratilova Born October 18, 1956 the tennis champion (who made the singles finals at Wimbledon 12 times) was once described by fellow out athlete Billie Jean King as “the greatest singles, doubles and mixed doubles player who’s ever lived.” 47. Kristanna Loken Born October 8, 1979, the actress got her big break as the homicidal cyborg in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) and has since worked on numerous film and television projects, including BloodRayne, The L Word and Painkiller Jane. 46. Margaret Cho Born December 5, 1968, the comic, actress, designer and musician was nominated for a 2010 Grammy award for Best Comedy Album (Cho Dependent). She recently competed on the reality dance competition show Dancing With the Stars.

45. Bridget McManus The stand up comic and actress made her feature film debut in Wanted, and has had two television shows on the Logo network. She hosted the popular AfterEllen.com vlog, Brunch with Bridget and up next is McManusland, her new series for tello Films. 44. Kiyomi McCloskey The singer/guitarist for the openly queer trio Hunter Valentine, she and her bandmates released their third album, Lessons from the Late Night, last year. They are currently on tour. 43. Tracy Ryerson One of the stars of the first season of the Showtime reality series The Real L Word, Ryerson models and is currently writing a book and developing a series for television.

42. Tucky Williams Best known for her role as Evan in the web series Girl/Girl Scene (which she also created), Williams has also appeared in Blink and Red River and has a degree in meteorology from Mississippi State University. 41. Nicole Pacent The actress and singer hit big with AfterEllen.com readers with her role as Aster in webseries Anyone But Me, which just went into production with its highly anticipated third season. 40. Tasya van Ree An artist and photographer, van Ree’s celebrity portraits and short films featuring famous friends and her partner, actress Amber Heard, are wildly popular. She describes her own work as “infused with romanticism, darkness, intimacy, and a certain lyrical quality.”

39. Laurel Holloman Born May 23, 1971, the former L Word star first hit the radar of the queer fans in the role of butch baby dyke Randy Dean in The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love (1995). She’s also a talented visual artist who has studied painting and sculpture. 38. Sarah Paulson Born December 17, 1974, the Broadway actress also has an impressive list of film and television credits, including Cupid and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. She recently starred in Martha Marcy May Marlene, one of the biggest hits of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, and will soon play a “relationship-challenged woman” in a new multi-camera comedy pilot from Warner Brothers. 37. Sue Perkins Born September 22, 1969, the English writer, comedian and radio/television presenter has made appearances on many BBC television shows and has also guest-conducted the London Gay Symphony Orchestra.

36. Samantha Ronson Born August 7, 1977, the DJ and singer/songwriter created a line of sneakers for Supra, guest starred on 90210, and recently declared herself to be “an equal opportunity player.” 35. Rosie O’Donnell Born March 21, 1962, the outspoken comic, actress and television/radio host will soon return to daytime television as a collaborator for the OWN Documentary Film Club. 34. Jessie J Born March 27, 1988, the British singer made a big splash with her number one single “Do It Like a Dude” from her debut album Who You Are and her confirmation of her bisexuality.

33. Holly Miranda The former frontwoman for The Jealous Girlfriends recently released a solo album, The Magician’s Private Library, and has toured with Tegan and Sara, the xx and Florence and the Machine. 32. Liz Feldman Born May 21, 1977, the comic and Emmy-winning writer has had a recurring role on The Jay Leno Show, written for The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Hot in Cleveland and hosted the popular webseries This Just Out. 31. Lindsay Lohan Born July 2, 1986, the child actress turned grown-up movie star (and singer) got her start as a model at the age of three before moving on to television (Another World) and eventually film, including Mean Girls (2004) and Machete (2010). Of late, her legal troubles have garnered more press than her acting roles or singing career, but fans are still holding out hope that Lohan will soon be back on the job.

30. Missy Higgins Born 19 August 1983, the Australian singer-songwriter has had multiple number one albums in her home country and her songs have been featured on the television shows Grey’s Anatomy and One Tree Hill. She made her acting debut in 2010 in the Aboriginal musical film Bran Nue Dae and also performed on several Lillith Fair tour dates. 29. Vanessa Carlton Born August 16, 1980, the Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter publicly came out as bisexual in 2010 while headlining Nashville Pride. She has toured with Stevie Nicks and Third Eye Blind, and is currently working on her next release, Rabbits On the Run (slated for a June 21, 2011 release). 28. Sarah Waters Born July 21, 1966 the award-winning novelist penned such lesbian favorites as Tipping the Velvet, Affinity and Fingersmith, all of which have been adapted for the screen. Her novel The Night Watch is also being adapted into a 90-minute film by the BBC.

27. Alexandra Hedison Born July 10, 1969, the actress appeared on The L Word, but her real passion is photography. According to her website, she’s currently working on “a new series of images that that examines the foundation and construction of Malibu beach houses as a metaphor for exploring the role of memory in the architecture of the subconscious.” 26. Cat Cora Born April 3, 1967 and mentored by Julia Child, she’s the first and only female Iron Chef on the Food Network series Iron Chef America and is the President and Founder of Chefs for Humanity. Look for the launch of her new show on OWN this year. 25. Jillian Michaels Born February 18, 1974, fitness guru Michaels is probably best know for her role as one of the trainers on the reality show The Biggest Loser and her own weight loss program, Losing It With Jillian Michaels. In a 2010 interview with Ladies Home Journal, she announced that she was simply looking for “healthy love,” be it with a man or a woman.

24. Lily Tomlin Born September 1, 1939, the comic, actress, writer and producer has won nearly every major award (Tony, Emmy, Grammy) in the performing arts for her remarkable talents. Many of her projects, including her one-woman Broadway show The Search For Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, have been made in collaboration with Jane Wagner, her partner of 40 years. 23. Suze Orman Born June 5, 1951, the Daytime Emmy Award-winning author, financial guru and television show host came out in 2007 in an interview with The New York Times Magazine. She currently hosts The Suze Orman Show and has appeared on “Oprah’s Allstars” on OWN. She married her wife, K.T., in 2010. 22. Sara Gilbert Born on January 29, 1975, the actress, most famously known for her portrayal of Darlene Conner on the sitcom Roseanne,also guest-starred on HawthoRNe and Grey’s Anatomy and currently co-hosts (and created) the daytime series, The Talk.

21. Brandi Carlile Born June 1, 1981, the singer-songwriter performed as a backup singer for an Elvis impersonator at the age of 16 and goes back on tour (without “Elvis”) again in May. Her songs can be heard in commercials and television shows (Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice) and she is known for her extensive charitable work on behalf of people with diabetes, women and the environment. 20. Jasika Nicole The illustrator and Fringe star hails from Birmingham, Alabama and has created her own graphic novel series, High Yella Magic. She’s also currently working on The Letter Q, “a compilation of all kinds of things – writing and prose and poems and artwork that are dedicated to people kind of describing what they would do if they could speak to their younger selves.” 19. Anna Paquin Born July 24, 1982, the Academy Award winner stars in the critically acclaimed HBO series True Blood and came out as bisexual in a public service announcement for the Give a Damn campaign in April 2010.

18. Beth Ditto Born February 19, 1981, the singer-songerwriter and Gossip frontwoman is also a model and opened the Jean Paul Gaultier spring 2011 fashion show. Her upcoming solo EP is set for release on March 29. 17. Ruby Rose Born March 20, 1986, the Australian model and MTV VJ had to down 100 shots of beer in 100 minutes against professional jackass Bam Margera in order to land her coveted MTV gig. She also has her own fashion line, Milk and Honey Designed by Ruby Rose. 16. Angelina Jolie Born June 4, 1975, the Oscar-winning actress mesmerized audiences in 1998 with her portrayal of model Gia Carangi in Gia and played Lara Croft in The Tomb Raider franchise (currently scheduled to be rebooted without her). She is rumored to be taking on the title role in the upcoming epic Cleopatra.

15. Melissa Etheridge Born May 29, 1961, the Academy Award and two-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and musician recently performed the role of St. Jimmy in Green Day‘s hit Broadway musical American Idiot. 14. Cynthia Nixon Born April 9, 1966, the Sex and the City star (and fervent activist for LGBT rights) is an Emmy, Tony and Grammy Award-winning actress who was once up for the role of Dana Scully in The X-Files (the part went to Gillian Anderson). These days, she can be seen on HBO’s The Big C. She and her partner, Christine Marinoni, recently announced the birth of their son, Max Ellington Nixon-Marinoni. 13. Clementine Ford Born June 29, 1979, The L Word and Young and the Restless star can next be seen as Xan in Girltrash: All Night Long.

12. Heather Peace

Born June 16, 1976, the actress and musician is is the only openly gay member of the Lip Service cast and will set out on her first ever full UK tour this month (March 31 thru April 15, 2011).

11. Wanda Sykes Born March 7, 1964, the married Emmy Award winning comedian/writer and actress began her stand-up career at a Coors Light Super Talent Showcase in Washington, DC. and famously came out in 2008 at a Las Vegas rally opposing Proposition 8. 10. Lady Gaga Lady Gaga has been on our queer radar for a long time, but she gained global notoriety in 2008 when she swept onto the scene with her bestselling album The Fame, which included popular singles “Poker Face” (a song about her bisexuality) and “Just Dance”. In 2009, her follow-up album, The Fame Monster, included chart toppers “Telephone” and “Bad Romance.” And this year, Gaga will release her “gay anthem” album, Born This Way. She was Billboard‘s Artist of the Year in 2010, and the top selling artist of the year as well.

Lady Gaga credits the gay community with her commercial success, and she has been unflagging in her reciprocal support. Not only has she advocated for marriage equality and the revocation of DADT; Gaga also performed at the National Equality March in 2009, and spoke at the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network’s DADT rally in 2010. Most recently, Gaga put the breaks on an exclusive deal with Target after the company didn’t live up to her expectations with regards to charitable giving and the LGBT community. Lady Gaga seems to be ubiquitous in the world of entertainment, and that’s just fine with us. Every time she speaks, she does her Little Monsters proud.

9. Sara Quin While Tegan and Sara are in the middle of writing their own albums, they make time to contribute their always-recognizable voices on other artists’ songs. This year, Sara’s hooks on Theophilus London‘s “Why Even Try?” showed off a different side of her, as the hip-hop track was something completely different from past performances. Her appearance with the MC on David Letterman was highly anticipated, and the recent announcement of an upcoming video has music fans excited to see the collaboration continue. Sara also shared her love of reading several times throughout the last few years in interviews with the CBC about her favorite reads, and on the 2011 panel for Canada Reads, where she defended Jeff Lemire‘s graphic novel, Essex County. In the past couple of years, Sara has also been responsible for the introduction of An Horse, an Aussie band she helped cultivate and get signed, and she produced the 2010 debut album from Seattle indie-folk punk Fences. The girl has quite a range, and great taste. 8. Tegan Quin When you’re a twin, it can sometimes be difficult to be seen as your own person. When you’re a Quin, you see this can happen on an international scale, but that’s because your names are forever linked as one of the hottest bands in the world. Yet, in the past couple of years, we have seen the individual sisters that make up Tegan and Sara take on their own side projects that has given them more of a look into their individuality. Tegan lent her vocals to punk band Against Me!‘s 2007 album, and she produced Char2D2‘s Small Vampires EP, one of the best debuts of 2009. Tegan also contributed a track to Augusten Burroughs‘ album accompanying his memoir, A Wolf at the Table, and made special appearances as part of readings for the best selling author. Tegan also tweets on behalf of the band @teganandsara, so fans have been able to follow her individual thoughts, suggestions and links for a better understanding of who the first half of the entity that is Tegan and Sara really is. 7. Leisha Hailey An accomplished actress and musician, Leisha has always been fearless when it comes to being out. Whether it was on the songs she wrote and performed with her band The Murmurs (later Gush) in the 1990s or in her early roles as an extra in the coming out episode of Ellen or as one of the leads in the gritty NYC lesbian teen film All Over Me, Leisha has been active in cultivating queer culture. It was her role as the hilarious bisexual journalist Alice Pieszecki The L Word that solidified her place as a lesbian it girl in the new millennium, something she’s held on to by continuing to show up on our TV screens in shows like Drop Dead Diva and CSI, but mostly due to her new musical duo Uh Huh Her. The band’s debut album, Common Reaction, hit number 9 on the Billboard Heatseaker’s Charts in 2008 and their track, “Same High,” was featured in The Kids Are All Right last year. With a second album being readied for a late-spring release and a new horror film, Fertile Ground, on the horizon with Gale Harold, Leisha continues to be one of the hottest gay women in the entertainment world.

6. Chely Wright It’s been less than a year since country music artist Chely Wright released her memoir, Like Me, and her first album in six years, Lifted Off the Ground – but in that time, she has become of beacon of hope and warmth in the LGBT community. Like Me details the struggles of Wright’s life as a closeted lesbian. She takes readers on a journey from her awkward sexual awareness as a child in the Midwest to the moment only a few years ago when she stood in her bathroom with a gun in her mouth. She has been a vocal advocate for gay rights since coming out last year, campaigning for the end of DADT and for marriage equality. She is also the founder and spokesperson for the LIKE ME Organization, which seeks to provide refuge and answers for gay teens who are dealing with bullying and depression. Her personal quest for authenticity has been inspiring for us all. Like her? Absolutely. And we can’t wait to see where the future takes her. 5. Rachel Maddow After several years of hosting her own radio program on Air America, Rachel Maddow became the first openly gay primetime anchor when MSNBC launched The Rachel Maddow Show in 2008. Maddow quickly dominated her time slot, outranking even iconic CNN host Larry King in ratings. In 2010, Maddow traveled to Afghanistan to report on the ongoing American war on terror, and to the Gulf of Mexico to report on the BP oil spill. She has been nominated for multiple GLAAD awards, and, in 2009, hers was the only news program nominated for a Television Critics Association award.

This past year, she collected the Maggie Award for her healthcare reform coverage, and Walter Cronkite Faith & Freedom Award, and honor she shares with Tom Brokaw, Larry King and Peter Jennings. She also appeared in a homey photoshoot in People with her longtime partner, Susan Mikula.

Maddow has never shied away from talking about her sexuality, and she has been a tireless advocate for gay rights, denouncing DADT, DOMA, Prop. 8, the “Kill the Gays” bill in Uganda, “conversion therapy,” and Rick Warren‘s anti-gay mega-church. In the wake of Keith Olberman‘s departure, Maddow is heir apparent to the MSNBC throne, and with midterm elections on the way in November, and exploratory committees already being formed for the 2012 presidential race, we predict she will be the go-to voice in liberal media in the coming years.

4. Amber Heard Amber Heard is more than just a pretty face. (And she is a very, very pretty face.) Heard won over AfterEllen readers in December when she spoke eloquently about LGBT rights and being out in Hollywood at GLAAD’s 25th anniversary celebration. Heard’s big screen roles have included The Stepfather, The Joneses and Pineapple Express as well as current films Drive Angry and The Ward. But she was just cast as the lead in the forthcoming NBC drama Playboy, which means we’ll be seeing her regularly on our TV if the promising sounding series gets picked up for a full run.

At only 24 years old, Heard has a bright future ahead of her, and she has already positioned herself in a place of personal authenticity – out of the closet. 3. Portia DeGeneres 2010 was a good year for Portia DeGeneres. She released her autobiography, Unbearable Lightness, and was granted a petition by the Los Angeles Superior Court to take her wife’s last name. During her book tour, Portia made an appearance on Ellen’s talk show, and visited Oprah to speak candidly about her struggle with an eating disorder and how Ellen’s love helped save her. Portia’s career certainly didn’t stall when she came out publicly in 2005. Since then, she starred in Better Off Ted and Nip/Tuck, and is revered for her turn as Lindsay Bluth Fünke on Arrested Development. Like everyone else, we’re still holding out hope for that movie. Another press tour for Portia could only be a good thing for LGBT visibility.

2. Jane Lynch Jane Lynch‘s million-watt smile, sharp wit and uncanny ability to deliver a perfect zinger made her an AfterEllen.com favorite long before she was a household name. In 2005, Lynch winked and tongue-clicked her way into our hearts as opportunistic lawyer Joyce Wischina on The L Word. That same year, her randy, foul-mouthed Paula stole the show in Judd Apatow‘s The 40-Year-Old Virgin. After a critically acclaimed turn on Party Down in 2009, Lynch turned her attention to caustic Cheerios coach Sue Sylvester on Glee, a role that has earned her an Emmy and a Golden Globe. And in an effort to pad her trophy collection, Entertainment Weekly suggested that Lynch deserved an Oscar for her portrayal of of Julia Child’s sister alongside Meryl Streep in the 2009 blockbuster hit Julie & Julia. Topping off her banner career year, Lynch hosted Saturday Night Live last October.

Perhaps what has endeared Lynch to us most of all is her unabashed stance out of the closet. She has never hidden her sexuality, never shied away from talking about being a lesbian, and when she met her now-wife, Lara Embry, she proudly spoke about her on talk shows, walked arm-in-arm with her down the red carpet, and kissed her before accepting her awards. Lynch’s career trajectory seems to be locked onto stellar, and we’ll happily follow her to infinity and beyond. 1. Ellen DeGeneres Without Ellen DeGeneres, our annual Les/Bi list wouldn’t exist, because without Ellen DeGeneres, AfterEllen.com wouldn’t exist. After coming out on Ellen in 1997, she became the face of lesbian visibility. (She also later became the face of CoverGirl.) She nearly lost her career when she made the decision to stride out of the closet, but Ellen has proven that she is a survivor. After an award winning turn as the lovable, forgetful Dory in Pixar’s Finding Nemo in 2003, Ellen relaunched her career as a talk show host. She has won 12 Emmy awards for The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and has hosted both the Emmys and the Academy Awards. When Oprah steps away from the talk show circuit this year, Ellen will be the uncontested queen of daytime.

Ellen’s marriage to Portia de Rossi in 2008 was met with cheers from around the globe. Not only are they the highest profile gay couple in the the world; they are one of the most adored celebrity couples on earth. A fierce advocate for equality, a tireless philanthropist, an animal rights activists, an adoring wife, and our lesbian of the decade: Ellen DeGeneres is poised to grace our Les/Bi list until the end of time.

So what do you think of your fellow readers’ picks? Who do you think belongs ont the list but didn’t make the cut (this time)?

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