Archive

Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever. (February 20, 2009)

THIS WEEK IN QUEER WOMEN ON TV

Note: There are no spoilers about future episodes, just updates on what has already aired, but click here if you want to skip these updates and go directly to the next page.

Show/Episode: Home and Away – Australia, drama

What happened: New bisexual character Freya recently joined the show as a hellraiser-type who is overly sexual with everyone. This week, she compiled a “hot list” of girls and boys at the local school she thinks are attractive. One of the girls on the list, Nicole, confronted her after school, saying “I do not think that I’m hot” and Freya said “Well, I think you are” and unexpectedly gave her a long, passionate kiss, as their shocked classmates looked on.

What else you need to know: It’s unclear whether Freya’s bisexuality will be explored or developed in future episodes, or whether this was just a stunt.

Thanks to: AE reader broohaha for the tip, and FoundinH for the info and screencap!

Show/Episode: Nip/Tuck – FX, drama

What happened: Liz the Former Lesbian became engaged to Christian, who just discovered he’s dying.

Show/Episode: Hell’s Kitchen – Fox, reality competition

What happened: Out lesbian chef L.A. is still in the competition, and performing solidly.

What else you need to know: The usual yelling and name-calling was accompanied by throwing-up, as the women’s team was forced to eat parts of cows you don’t normally eat.

Show/Episode: The L Word – Showtime, drama

What happened: Jenny stole Alice’s idea for a movie and sold it half a million dollars. The group put Dylan to the test by having Niki Stevens attempt to seduce her; when Dylan passed the test, Helena hooked up with her. Jenny kept Shane on a short leash. Bette and Tina went out to dinner with Kelly and an artist, where they ran into Tina’s boss and William the billionaire, prompting Tina to give them a public dressing-down that even left Bette speechless.

Show/Episode: Los Hombres de Paco (Paco’s Men) – Spain, drama

What happened: Pepa is still trying to win Sylvia back, but Silvia’s talking about a restraining order.

Show/Episode: All My Children – ABC, drama

What happened: Bianca and Reese were married, then Bianca found out that Reese and Zach hooked up. Bianca confronted Reese about her attraction to men, and Reese responded with a speech about being attracted to the person’s soul, not their gender, Bianca called BS, and served her with annulment papers that gave Reese no parental rights. Reese refused to sign the papers, and said she would fight Bianca for custody if she tried to take away their children.

What else you need to know: Considering everything that’s happened on this show, Eden Riegel deserves an Emmy for delivering the line “Lesbians don’t just go around kissing men!” without laughing.

Show/Episode: Guiding Light – CBS, drama

What happened: Olivia confessed to a friend that her feelings for Natalia might be more than just friendly.

What else you need to know: The father of Olivia’s daughter is back in town, and Olivia is afraid he’ll come after her.

Show/Episode: Verbotene Liebe (Forbidden Love) – Germany, drama

What happened: Stella told Carla not to worry about their misunderstanding from last week (when Carla mistakenly thought Stella had asked her on a date). Carla agreed not to quit.

Show/Episode: Grey’s Anatomy – ABC, drama

What happened: Callie asked Arizona out on a date, but Arizona turned her down upon learning Callie had only dated one woman before, because, “you’re all exploring and experimenting, and ‘yay!'” which is great, but “I spend my entire day around newborns, so I try not to in my personal life” even though she was “super flattered – super!” At the bar at the end of the episode, Callie walked up to Arizona and gave her an “I have lots of experience, and you’d be lucky to experience it” speech, only to slink away in embarrassment upon being introduced to Arizona’s date.

What else you need to know: Callie is wearing her black leather jacket outside the hospital, which is a time-honored way for TV costume designers to signal that a woman is gay or bisexual (yes, she’s always had this jacket, but she’s been wearing it more lately). Arizona is wearing roller shoes inside the hospital, which is just cute.

That wraps up this week’s rundown of lesbian/bi women on TV – if any international readers want to email me at to [email protected] on Thursdays with short rundowns of what happened with the lesbian/bi storylines on your favorite shows, please do!

– by Sarah Warn

LAW & ORDER: SVU TACKLES TRANS ISSUES WITH A FAMILIAR FACE

This week’s Law & Order: SVU was originally supposed to feature the return of Stephanie March‘s ADA Alex Cabot for a six-episode stint.

Let’s visualize that together for a minute.

Actually, let’s visualize Alex and Olivia together for a minute.

Right, and we’re back.

But instead of seeing Stephanie, we were treated to a very special episode of Law & Order: SQU (Special Queer Unit). The story involved transgender issues and even featured a couple of real-life lesbians with cameos. Both Daniela Sea and Leah Delaria appeared in the episode. For a moment, it I thought Ilene Chaiken had taken over all of television. It was a scary moment.

Aside from Daniela’s seemingly permanent status as Max in the eyes of casting directors everywhere (though, thank heavens they decided to forgo the Gibb brother beard), I thought the episode handled trans issues rather sensitively. The plot involved a 13-year-old girl, Hailey, whose father couldn’t accept that she isn’t his son Henry anymore and is found beaten nearly to death.

Max, err, Daniela (see, even I’m slipping) plays a leader of a trans group that steals hormones from pharmaceutical companies and gives them to transitioning members of the community who could not ordinarily afford them. Det. Stabler called him a “Robin Hood and Maid Marian all wrapped up into one.” I could have done without that crack, because it’s an easy and unnecessary he-she joke.

I also wish the assailant of the girl’s father didn’t turn out to be the secretly transgender guidance counselor. Even though she came off entirely emphatically, it’s still another name to add to the seemingly never-ending master list of LGBT homicidal characters.

But, overall the episode seemed to portray the issue with a great deal of tact and understanding.

by Dorothy Snarker

BIGGER, LAMER, AND UNCUT: THE NEW FULL-LENGTH LESBIAN VAMPIRE KILLERS TRAILER

Last month, we shared with you the teaser for the upcoming UK film Lesbian Vampire Killers.

Though the teaser didn’t give her much information with which to work, AE blogger Dorothy Snarker speculated that the film will be much more focused on the killing of the lesbian vampires than any fun with the lesbian vampires themselves.

The full-length trailer for the film is out now, and it looks as if Snarker was right (as usual).

In case you haven’t heard of the film, it follows two male friends (played by James Corden and Mathew Horne of the BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey) on a hiking excursion gone awry. When they find themselves in a country village populated by a bunch of scantily clad women, they think that they’ve landed on a real-life Fantasy Island. But the women turn out to be lesbian vampires, and the friends spend the rest of the film running from, taunting, and ultimately killing the blood-sucking lesbians.

Straight guys clobbering lesbians on the big screen? Not exactly the stuff of a cinematic revolution.

You can watch the full trailer below:

The film is set for release in the UK on March 20, 2009, but has no US release date at this time.

You can go to the film’s website to download screen savers, wallpaper, and sound clip files such as “Under Full On Lesbian Attack,” “Hot Dykes” and “Clam Lappers.”

Yes, you can go there, but do you really want to?

You can also use the site to create your own “My Lesbian Vampire Dance Widget.”

Intrigued? So was I, so I clicked on that page and read the following instructions: “Control the lesbian vampires as they dance to tease you!”

Yes, you can upload a picture of your face to the site and then see yourself getting a creepy lap dance (of sorts) from some lesbian vampires!

Is this function really as “bleeding brilliant” as the site proclaims it to be? It wasn’t for me, as I’ve gotten more joy out of “elfing” myself. But maybe it’s just a matter of personal taste.

by Karman Kregloe

AMELIE MAURESMO ACES HER 25TH TITLE

After two years of injury and frustration, French tennis star and out lesbian Amelie Mauresmo just proved that she’s far from ready for retirement.

Sunday, Mauresmo won the Paris Open by beating Russian Olympic champ Elena Dementieva 7-6, 2-6, 6-4 in the final. This was her first tournament win since February 2007 and her 25th career title.

Even getting to the finals was no small task. Mauresmo had to beat two other top 10 players, Agnieszka Radwanska and Jelena Jankovic, the previous week.

Dementieva qualified for the finals when Serena Williams withdrew due to a knee injury, but that didn’t make the victory less sweet for Amelie, who burst into tears after her win.

“It’s a lot of emotion,” she told reporters. “With such a victory, you forget all the doubts, all the hard times in the past two years. It is one of the most beautiful victories because of all the problems I have been through. Bursting into tears was just the sign of that woman who’s been sweating blood and eventually wins something.”

I don’t know about you, but these action shots of Mauresmo make me pretty emotional, too – among other things.

Congratulations, Amelie. If you ever need a warm-up partner, you know where to find me.

– by the linster

SUZE ORMAN’S CALL TO ACTION

Famed female-loving financial guru Suze Orman had only one Valentine’s Day wish: The legalization of gay marriage.

Yeah, me, too, Suze.

I’ve always liked Suze Orman. Unlike most of the financial talking heads, she dishes out advice in style that actually makes me listen, understand, and sometimes, laugh.

Most TV financial advisors make me feel like a dumb teenager who steals their parents’ credit card to buy Britney tickets. (Dumb for stealing the credit card, not dumb for wanting to see Britney.)

Suze Orman dishes out advice like your cool aunt who comes over for dinner, sneaks away for cigarette breaks, and tells you that you were a schmuck for stealing your parents’ credit card. Then, in between reprimanding puffs, she tells you that she knows where you can buy the tickets for a third of the asking price and offers to go with you to the concert if you pay for the gas.

In 2007, Orman became even more of a bad ass in my book, when she came out of the closet and announced that she was in a long term relationship with one of the co-producers of her show, Kathy Travis.

Like many gay Americans, wishes to marry her partner but in true Suze fashion, she wants to do it for her heart and her wallet. Last year, shhe told the New York Times:

Both of us have millions of dollars in our name … It’s killing me that upon my death, K.T. is going to lose 50 percent of everything I have to estate taxes. Or vice versa.

And on her show last weekend, she followed-up her statements by speaking out against the passing of Prop. 8, saying:

It is such a travesty that a few months ago Proposition 8 in California passed. Prop 2 in Florida passed. What is that about, everybody? We are taking away a birth right, if you ask me, for people to get the most out of their money that they have spent most of the lives making … Every single one of us deserves to have the same financial benefits whether we are gay or whether we are straight. Therefore we have got to do everything we can to turn that around. Every single one of us deserves to love, every single one of us deserves to be loved, and every single one of us deserves to be able to make the most out of what we have. That’s my Valentine’s wish for every single one of us.

Leave it to Suze Orman to show that you can indeed put a price on love. Let’s hope that this time next year, Suze, your Valentine’s Day wish comes true for you and your bank account.

by Julia Miranda

LISSY TRULLIE IS A SELF-TAUGHT LEARNER

If you live on the East Coast or read fashion magazines, you might have heard of Lissy Trullie.

The NYC-by-way-of-DC musician has been frequenting popular venues and getting indie fans talking about songs from her debut EP, Self-Taught Learner.

While Trullie, an out lesbian, is praise-worthy for her music alone, it definitely doesn’t hurt that she used to be a model.

Trullie will be playing at this year’s SXSW music festival in Austin, Texas, where she’ll surely be the talk of the town. Her cover of Hot Chip‘s “Ready for the Floor” has given a lot of critics reason to call her talented, fun and ultimately “the next big thing.”

Her music is modern rock at its best – melodic, layered and catchy with her deep voice echoing the style of P.J. Harvey and Neko. Her look is a little bit butch with a touch of femme – like Elvis Costello meets Chloe Sevigny.

Trullie’s retro-esque video for “Self-Taught Learner” features her and a lady-friend, hanging out (somewhat very literally). And if you didn’t know she was out from that alone, you could tell from her EP cover, or from her songs like “She Said.”

Check out Trullie’s tracks at myspace.com/lissytrullie.

– by Trish Bendix

A PLACE TO LIVE FOR LGBT SENIORS

One of the subjects the LGBT community doesn’t like to think about is growing old. Not because we can’t accept it, but because society – at least in the U.S. – still doesn’t feel entirely comfortable with “the gays.” So, when it’s time for gay senior citizens to find a retirement facility, many are forced back into the closet.

For couples, the situation can be tragic, as significant others are separated because, legally, they aren’t a couple.

I am a Baby Boomer. Although I’m not close to retirement yet, I have to admit I think about it, especially as I see my 401K dwindle to a pittance. I am an only child with no children and, now that my parents are gone, I have no biological family to speak of. So, what will happen when I do retire and need to find affordable living?

This is the dilemma explored in A Place to Live: The Story of Triangle Square.

The film, which won the Audience Award at last year’s OUTFEST, follows seven older adults as they try to secure a place in Triangle Square Hollywood, the first affordable housing facility in the U.S. for LGBT seniors. Since the number of applicants far exceeded the number of units, candidates entered a lottery to sellect the facility’s first residents.

In a MySpace interview last year, director Carolyn Coal and producer Cynthia Childs talked about the documentary: (All the questions were answered by “CC,” so apologies for not being able to give precise quote attribution.)

I’m truly inspired by the seniors in our project – their stories are so powerful. One woman came out in east LA in 1947, joined a gang, transported prostitutes and was arrested for “masquerading”, a city ordinance that stated that women must wear a certain amount of female clothing. Another woman marched on Washington. One gentleman designed floats for the Rose Parade. The diversity of their stories was astounding and I was overwhelmed with emotion when speaking with them.

Childs had the idea for the film when she saw the construction site for Triangle Square and was struck by the significance of the project, both architecturally and culturally.

She approached Gay & Lesbian Elder Housing (GLEH), the non-profit group behind the project, and was able to find people willing to share their journey to Triangle Square:

I think what surprised me most was not the seniors themselves, but the fact that they are so marginalized in our community. There is a misperception that all gays are young, fabulous and wealthy – but we’re not. We are all ethnicities, all socio-economic levels and all ages. I hope our film will bring attention to this issue of neglect and marginalization.

Here’s the trailer:

A Place to Live is making the rounds of LGBT film festivals. I hope you’ll see it, no matter what your age. Because like it or not, what happens to gay seniors has happened or will happen to you.

– by the linster

KATHY LEE GIFFORD ATTEMPTS TO KISS MOLLY SIMS

Today on The Today Show, Kathie Lee Gifford kind of kissed two girls and I really, really didn’t like it. In an attempt to demonstrate a devastating male kiss, Kathie grabbed her co-host Hoda Kobt, and her guest, supermodel/actress Molly Sims, and got centimeters away from their petrified lips.

Um, ew.

In this internet age, it seems that the path to temporary cultural relevance is having an emailable video clip. Nowadays, stars like Kathie Lee Gifford have to compete with drugged up 7-year-olds like Internet sensation “David After the Dentist” for attention. Knowing this, I’m convinced that television personalities try to push the envelope and create “eye catching/watercooler/emailabale moments” on their programs.

The Today Show may only get several million viewers to watch their entire show, but if they make an “emailable moment” then they are guaranteed to double their viewership, at least for those 45 seconds.

And as PETA’s recent stunt has shown us, what better way to get attention than lesbianism! Good times. What’s next – Elizabeth Hasselbeck pecking Sherri Shepherd?

If I ever get that clip in my inbox, I’m canceling my internet.

PETA UTILIZES A TIRED GIRL-ON-GIRL TREND

Following their banned Super Bowl commercial, animal rights group PETA decided to up the sexy ante by going gay on America with their Girl-On-Girl Make-Out Tour.

The “Make-Out Tour” basically consists of two bikini-clad girls lying on mattresses at various street corners and periodically lip-pecking each other. (You can watch a video here.)

I’m sorry, but this sounds kind of like a Bud Light ad to me. I understand that PETA is trying to shake things up and get noticed, but I think all of this is just lame and exploitative.

Yes, they’ll get noticed, because two girls making out is well, fun for everyone, but as Joaquin Phoenix proved the other night on Letterman, not all publicity is good publicity.

This whole thing just reeks of desperation. The big message behind PETA’s racy campaign is that studies have shown that veggies have better sex. Well, I’d like to see a study that shows how many straight men go veggie after seeing two girls pet each other.

PETA is placating to the stereotypical straight male fantasy that two women can’t wait for a big, burly man to come in and finish the job, or in this case, a big, burly broccoli-loving man.

Sorry, PETA, but your latest stunt makes me hungry for a Big Mac.

by Julia Miranda

LADY GAGA GETS DOWN WITH A LADY COP

Lady Gaga isn’t one for labels. You could call her bisexual, but she’s said many times she’s just “her.”

She’s boy crazy, she’s girl crazy, but mostly, she just wants to make you dance.

But in her newest video for “Love Game”, the 22-year-old pop singer taking a cue from Lil’ Wayne by locking lips with her own Mrs. Officer.

In true Lady Gaga fashion, there are also some male officers involved, but who pays attention to those? Or the lyrics that say, “Let’s have some fun, this beat is sick, I wanna take a ride on your disco stick.” Gross.

It’s especially hard to notice the lyrics, given Gaga’s typical unitard getup, sequenced body and sexy subway dance moves. She really does pull off that whole nothing but glitter look better than anyone.

While Gaga is unabashedly open, she’s simultaneously reserved. She’s commented that she doesn’t want to give herself a label because people will just think she’s playing the “edgy card,” but doesn’t not giving yourself a label do the same thing? And how about frenching a lady cop in your new video – won’t that get people talking? But I guess, that’s the point, isn’t it?

– by jamie murname

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

This week’s episode of the popular CBS crime drama The Mentalist featured a very minor lesbian subplot involving two socialites who were secretly in a relationship with one another.

The first episode of Stacie Ponder‘s Ghostella series – “Taste of Flesh, Taste of Fear” – was selected by The Chainsaw Mafia (an organization that promotes women in horror) to be a part of the Viscera 2008 film series, which will be released on DVD as a compilation in the Spring/Summer of this year. Congratulations, Stacie!

Out at the Wedding is now available on DVD.

The second season of Mistresses debuted in the U.K. this week.

Showtime is creating an hour-long retrospective for the final season of The L Word that will feature select photos of fans with cast members (from events, etc.). If you’re interested in submitting a photo of yourself with a cast member(s) for possible inclusion, email it to [email protected], along with a brief description of the location and/or event of where the photo was taken, and your contact information (full name and email address).

The winners of The Lezzy Awards for best lesbian blogs have been announced – congratulations to Dorothy Surrenders, This Girl Called Automatic Win, Grace the Spot, Pam’s House Blend, Sugarbutch Chronicles, Lesbian Dad, and Just Eat Your Cupcake!

Twitter fan? Follow these twitter accounts of celebrities, AfterEllen.com staff and bloggers, and other AE members.

The 81st Annual Academy Awards will air live this Sunday at 5pm/8pm EST. No openly queer women or films about queer women are nominated (to our knowledge) except Milk, which includes a semi-prominent lesbian character.

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.

Lesbian Apparel and Accessories Gay All Day sweatshirt -- AE exclusive

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button