After you voted Leisha Hailey No. 1 on our Hot 100 list, we passed the news onto Ms. Hailey herself, and she was gracious enough to let us know how it made her feel. Here's her response to topping the list:

Wow, I don't even know what to say. I hope Angelina's not mad at me. I have to say this really makes up for the time I was on the Homecoming Court in High school with my boyfriend (yes I had one) and he won and I didn't. So thanks to everyone. I'll try and keep up my hottness.

All my love, Leisha

Let's commemorate this special moment by taking a brief trip down memory lane. Remember when Leisha was in The Murmurs? Here she is back then:

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As you might have noticed from the deluge of traffic slowing down the site this week, the AfterEllen.com Hot 100 List is a big hit — both with lesbian/bisexual women, and the rest of the world. People have been coming from miles around to see who the lesbians think are hot, and for the most part, the reception's been pretty positive, even though almost no one agrees with all the women on the list. I for one would only have put one of these three women on the list — can you guess which one? (Here's a hint: her name rhymes with "Sarah Shahi.")

There was a negative comment made by a straight guy named Jeff on our list, and AfterEllen.com reader ysubassoon posted a very funny reply entitled "We are under no obligation to cater to you" (her title alone made me laugh) that started off with this paragraph:

Jeff, you're obviously new here, so perhaps there are some things about this site that you just haven't realized yet.  This is a site by and for lesbian and bisexual women.; it is not by straight men for straight men, about lesbian and bisexual women. It is one of the few places on the Internet that is under no obligation to make sure that you (i.e. heterosexual males) are pleased with its content.  If you aren't happy with what you see here, take your insults and your complaints to another site where they are wanted.  We will flourish here with or without you. 

Ysubassoon is right, of course — while we welcome straight readers on AfterEllen.com, we care primarily about what lesbian and bi women think — but nonetheless, I've found it interesting to watch the reception the AfterEllen.com Hot 100 List has been getting outside of the AfterEllen.com community. It's been heartening to discover that quite a lot of straight men agree with the women you all chose, and often even prefer them over the women on Maxim's list.

I've kept track of some of the more interesting, encouraging, and amusing comments made by straight men (they're straight men as far as I can tell, anyway) about our list, and I'm providing them here for your amusement, complete with original spelling mistakes: … continue reading