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2009 Year in Review: Television

In 2009, the number of leading lesbian characters on primetime broadcast TV doubled – from one to two.

Out of the estimated 600 lead and supporting characters on network TV, seven of them of are lesbian or bisexual. And of those seven, five of them kissed women last year. And of those five, three of them made out during Sweeps.

Things looked bleak at the beginning of the year, but with the growing trend of lesbian brides getting gunned down or cheating on their wedding days, and the continued trend of bisexual characters only expressing their same-sex attraction during Sweeps, and the loss of Showtime’s lesbian drama The L Word, we’re ending the year on a downward spiral in terms of lesbian visibility.

SCRIPTED TELEVISION: BROADCAST

Primetime

The most surprising story in 2009 was the relationship between Callie Torres (played by Sara Ramirez) and Arizona Robbins (played by Jessica Capshaw) on Grey’s Anatomy.

When Grey’s fired Callie’s original lesbian love interest, Eric Hahn (played by Brooke Smith), in 2008, we expected Callie to return to the waiting arms of one of Seattle Grace’s male doctors. Presumably, so did the Grey’s writing team. They signed Capshaw on for three episodes in an apparent attempt to appease the LGBT community. However, Arizona Robbins was so well-liked by the audience, and had such good chemistry with Callie, that they offered Capshaw a recurring role, making her the the only lesbian primetime series regular when the Fall 2009 TV season started.

Arizona Robbins entered Seattle Grace as an unapologetic lesbian who had been sure of her sexuality since she was a teenager. She told Callie that she had a poster of Cindy Crawford on her wall when she was growing up, and she wasn’t just “looking at her mole.”

Callie and Arizona were never treated with a sense of “otherness” because they were in a lesbian relationship, and unlike Callie’s relationship with Erica Hahn, there was nothing titillating about her attraction to Arizona. That is, it wasn’t played up for the benefit of male surgeons like Mark Sloane. In fact, after Callie and Arizona began dating, their relationship became the healthiest one on Grey’s Anatomy, with both women learning how to love and support one another as they navigated their chaotic careers.

At the annual GLSEN awards, Ramirez said of her character’s relationship:

What we’re going to see this season with Callie is a healthy relationship – wow! Yes, it’s a drama and you’ve got to have conflict. That’s what I love about it. Regardless of who’s in the relationship, you’re seeing those universal conflicts that happen in a relationship, whether it’s heterosexual or homosexual or whatever it is. People issues.

Capshaw echoed that sentiment: “This season has been about cementing a very mature and grounded relationship and taking it forward.”

The only time the lesbian aspect of Callie and Arizona’s relationship came into focus was when Callie’s father voiced his disapproval and cut off Callie’s trust fund. He returned with the family priest later in the season, and for every Bible verse he used to attack Callie, she was ready with an excerpt on kindness and love.

The message from Callie was “You cannot pray away the gay.” While the message from Arizona was “She is still who you raised her to be.”

The only other leading lesbian character on primetime network TV this year was a surprise addition by ABC’s freshman science-fiction drama, FlashForward. In the fifth episode, “Gimme Some Truth”, FBI agent Janis Hawk (played by Christine Woods) revealed that she is a closeted lesbian in her career because she works “for the federal government, and they’re not too big on trusting gays with guns.”

During her flashforward (the inexplicable glimpse into the future seen by every character in the pilot) Janis saw herself pregnant and wearing a wedding ring, which confused her since she had no plans to get pregnant and wasn’t in a relationship.

She did, however, have a promising date with a chef named Maya (played by Navi Rawat) in the fifth episode. The two flirted openly over dinner, exchanging bogus flashforward stories, and ended up going home together. The next morning they made breakfast and plans for another date, but their fledgling relationship came to a jarring halt when Maya found out that Janis’ real flashforward included a wedding and a baby.

ABC has shelved FlashForward until March 2010, and while that doesn’t sound promising in terms of a second season, there are still 12 episodes left for us to discover why the only other lesbian on primetime TV is married and knocked up in the future.

Actually, on second thought, maybe we don’t want to know.

While there were only two lesbians on primetime network TV this year, there were a half dozen bisexual characters.

We have noted in the past that writers often label their female characters “bisexual” so they can play up the girl-on-girl scenes during Sweeps, and then have their characters fall back into relationships with men when the ratings stunts are over.

For example, both Angela Montenegro (played by Michaela Conlin) on Bones and Thirteen Hadley (played by Olivia Wilde) on House had relationships with women during 2008 Sweeps, but the only mention of their Sapphic dalliances this year occurred when Thirteen was trying to cheer up her boyfriend.

This year, Heroes and Melrose Place filled in for Bones and House.

On Heroes, Hayden Panettiere‘s Claire Bennet (of “save the cheerleader, save the world” fame) found herself the recipient of some “edgy” affection from her first college roommate, Gretchen Berg (played by Madeline Zima). At first it appeared that Gretchen was trying to murder Claire, but by the fourth episode of their story arc, “Hysterical Blindness,” Gretchen confessed that her internet stalking and general obsession with Claire wasn’t sinister; it was Sapphic.

“I have a crush. I’m crushing on you,” Gretchen told Claire before pulling her a clumsy Sweeps-y kiss.

Before Claire could recover, the sisters of Psi Alpha Chi rushed into the room to invite the girls to join their sorority.

In the following four episodes, things went from awkward to absurd. The Psi Alpha Chi sorority seemed to be taking its cue from the slasher film Sorority Row. Every time Gretchen and Claire tried to broach the subject of their “relationship,” they were interrupted by mayhem and destruction.

In the last episode of the year, Gretchen and Claire appeared to be nothing more than pals, a resolution they apparently came to off-screen. There is no word whether or not Gretchen will return to Heroes when the show resumes in January 2010.

The other lead bisexual character on primetime broadcast TV this year was Ella Simms (played by Katie Cassidy) on the CW’s Melrose Place reboot. Early buzz from the Melrose set was that Ella would be a bisexual publicist, but when Cassidy spoke to reporters at the Fall TCA Press Tour, she said, “My character is definitely exploring her sexuality. She is try-sexual – she will try anything.”

Anything, that is, except for fidelity.

In Melrose‘s pilot episode, Ella explained it to her friend and client Jonah like this:

Jonah: See, I don’t get you, Ella. First that guy Cole and then that couple at the farmer’s market. Don’t you just want to meet someone and settle down and fall in love?

Ella: You can love someone without declaring yourself exclusive for the rest of your life. Hey, I love love! I just hate monogamy.

Ella had two sexual encounters with women this year: the first in the pilot, in an attempt to take her mind of the fact that she was falling for Jonah; the second during Sweeps, with a hired socialite her boss Amanda (played by the original Ella, Heather Locklear) was using to test her loyalty.

At least on Melrose Place the bisexual character seemed to enjoy kissing girls – even if the opportunity only presented itself when the Nielsen ratings gun was pointed at Ella’s head.

One of the bright spots on an otherwise deserted horizon was Friday Night Lights‘ inclusion of Devin Boland (played by Stephanie Hunt) as a recurring lesbian teen. Devin, a bass-playing hipster born and bred in Dillion, TX, came out as a lesbian in November 2008. Her presence on Friday Night Lights has been small, but she shines when she’s included in the show.

The highlight of Devin’s story in 2009 was the episode “East of Dillion,” in which she convinced her best friend to accompany her to a gay bar. Devin spent time drinking and flirting, and while it wasn’t a huge part of the episode, it did give viewers in the Bible Belt a glimpse inside a (fictional) lesbian bar.

About her role as Devin, Stephanie Hunt told The L.A. Times:

There’s conflict in that because there’s not a lot of confident lesbians in high school that could just be together. So there’s a feeling that she’s a little bit alone. It would be easy for her to say she’s not gay just to be able to fit in more. Fighting for what you want could be a little more challenging, as well as more lonely. That’s what Devin is going through.

There are 13 recurring queer characters on broadcast television. Devin is the only lesbian. The rest are either men or cartoon robots.

Daytime

2009 saw the end of the only two lesbian couples on daytime television.

After a series of super-hyped ABC promos, All My Children‘s Reese and Bianca (played by Tamara Braun and Eden Riegel) participated in daytime TV’s first lesbian wedding.

The next day they participated in daytime TV’s first lesbian annulment.

Reese was originally AMC‘s peace offering to the LGBT community – their Jessica Capshaw, if you will – after three years worth of foreplay between Maggie (played by Elizabeth Hendrickson) and Bianca ended up igniting and fizzling off-screen.

In 2008, Reese and Bianca became the first lesbian couple to have a sex scene on daytime TV. They followed that with their ground-breaking proposal and wedding in 2009.

Unfortunately, the night before the wedding, Reese became suddenly, inexplicably confused about her sexuality, so she kissed Bianca’s brother-in-law. Bianca found out; the annulment happened; and Bianca skipped town – again. She later returned, snatched up Reese, and flew her off to Paris so that they could work out their issues, off-screen.

We do not know when (or if) the couple will return Pine Valley.

The other lesbian couple we said goodbye to in 2009 was Olivia and Natalia (played by Crystal Chappell and Jessica Leccia) on CBS’ Guiding Light. They didn’t jetset to Paris for international couples counseling; their show was canceled.

Otalia started out as a progressive, refreshing couple. They were enemies; they were pals; then, they fell in love with one another. Unfortunately, GL‘s double standard when it came to physical intimacy prevented the two from ever even kissing. They pledged their lives to one another, decided to raise an ill-conceived child together, but the closest they got to a smooch was an occasional smacking together of foreheads.

In the series finale’s flash forward, the two were still together – but we still don’t know if they’ve been together, together.

Guiding Light‘s town mayor Doris, the last lesbian standing on daytime TV, came out to her daughter in 2009. It was a beautiful development after years of being closeted, and it happened just in time for the show’s cancellation.

SCRIPTED TELEVISION: CABLE

2009 also saw the end of another lesbian soap opera; after six seasons of entertaining and infuriating us, The L Word ended its run on Showtime.

Queer women have always had a complicated relationship with The L Word, and if anything, it grew even more intense during the show’s final year. The eight-episode season opened with the death Jenny Schecter (played by Mia Kirshner) and then flashed back to the previous season’s finale, giving the final episodes the framework of an absurd murder-mystery.

Various characters threatened to kill Jenny over the course of the season: Tina (played by Laurel Holloman) because she assumed Jenny stole the Lez Girls film negative; Nikki (played by Kate French) because Jenny toyed with her affections; Alice (played by Leisha Hailey) because Jenny plagiarized her film treatment; Max (played by Daniela Sea) because Jenny insisted on calling him “her”; Helena (played by Rachel Shelley) because Jenny sabotaged her rekindled relationship with Dylan; and Bette (played by Jennifer Beals) because – well Bette never actually threatened to kill Jenny. She just stood ominously in front of her on a broken balcony and promised to do anything to protect her family.

In the end, the mystery was not resolved, indicating to fans that the storyline was nothing more than a setup for the proposed prison spin-off, The Farm. (It would have starred Leisha Hailey, but Showtime passed on it.)

One of the more controversial and frustrating storylines of The L Word‘s sixth season was the accidental (and medically-inexplicable) pregnancy of the transgender character, Max.

Max was the only FTM character on TV in 2009, and his pregnancy storyline only served to alienate him from the core cast of L Word characters. He was depicted as freakishly hormonal and unstable. He punched his boyfriend in the mouth and spent much of his time in his potting shed, playing violent video games. He could not reconcile his masculine identity with the feminine changes he was going through due to pregnancy. (His friends’ ignorance and unwillingness to embrace him didn’t help). At one point, Bette even compared him to a used car when he offered to let her and Tina adopt his child.

In the finale, Max was shown shaving off his beard, a symbolic scene in which he was forced to embrace his “femininity.”

While the other L Word characters didn’t face an ending as bleak as Max’s, there wasn’t much happiness to spare in West Hollywood in 2009.

Tasha (played by Rose Rollins) and Alice’s relationship fell apart when Tasha found herself falling in love with their “third wheel.” Helena and Dylan’s relationship imploded when Helena discovered that Dylan was a pawn in one of Jenny’s schemes.

Jodi Lerner (played by Marlee Matlin) became a one-dimensional adultery whistle-blower. And Shane was forced into a manipulatively romantic relationship with Jenny, while a love letter from her ex-girlfriend wasted away in Jenny’s attic.

Only Bette and Tina got a happy ending, and who knows how long that would have lasted if Jenny had lived to show a “compromising” video of Bette and her business partner.

For all its flaws, though, The L Word left a gaping hole in queer programming when it ended.

As AfterEllen.com writer Dara Nai recently noted, “Sometimes you have to choose quantity over quality.” Because visibility matters, and The L Word featured more lesbians and bisexuals than any other show in history.

The characters may have found themselves in ridiculous and implausible situations, but (for the most part) they were true to their sexual identities. All of them were proudly out of the closet, living their lives as openly queer women. They laughed, they cried, they cheated (oh, did they ever cheat), and they had plenty of gratuitous sex.

For that alone – for the fact that the lesbian characters were actually allowed to touch one anotherThe L Word will be missed.

The SyFy channel made history this year when they rebooted their Stargate franchise and hired Ming-Na to play lesbian IOA officer Camile Wray in Stargate Universe.

Her presence in SyFy’s programming is revolutionary for several reasons.

Most importantly, Camile is the first leading lesbian character to be played by an Asian American on primetime television.

Her role in the Stargate series shows a pointed willingness on SyFy’s part to create more diverse and inclusive programming. Science fiction shows, in general, are cautious when introducing romantic plots. Sexual tension always takes second place to action and gadgetry, and if romance is introduced – especially in prior incarnations of Stargate – the relationships move at a glacial pace.

In SGU‘s pilot episode, Camile found herself stranded with a crew aboard the ancient ship Destiny. She mentioned then that she was a lesbian, and was in a committed relationship with her partner Sharon (played by Reiko Aylesworth). Her relationship came into play in a big way in the seventh episode of the season, “Life.”

In it, Camile returned home to visit her partner. The two shared several onscreen kisses and implied lovemaking. They made dinner and small talk, and simply soaked up the rare opportunity to spend time together.

When Camile reluctantly prepared to leave, Sharon told her:

You are going to take a deep breath, OK? You are going to go back to that ship. You are going to work with those people, motivate them, do whatever you need to do to get yourself back home. I am going to be here. I’m not going anywhere.

As I wrote in the episode recap:

Stargate Universe chose to frame Camile’s entire story within the context of a loving, committed relationship with another woman. And because Sharon and Camile’s relationship is given the most gravity of any on the show, it is the story-telling device that is used to anchor the entire crew of Destiny to Earth. Which is to say that the audience is supposed to connect with every character’s humanity because two lesbians’ hearts are breaking as they are forced to live light years apart.

SGU writers showed great faith in their audience by choosing to portray Camile as a lesbian, and they’ve taken plenty of flak for it. Many straight male SyFy viewers complained that Camile’s story was entirely too sappy for SGU; while lesbian viewers voiced their concern because of rumors that Camile will sleep with a man in the episode “Sabotage” which will air in 2010.

In the episode, Camile will allow her body to be swapped with a quadriplegic character for one episode. While the other woman is in her body, she will have sex with a man. Both Ming-Na and SyFy feel confident that the story will be handled “responsibly and with sensitivity.”

“Responsible” and “sensitive” are two words we rarely use to describe the way lesbian and bisexual characters are written. So it is surprising that the other cable show to feature leading lesbians – Skins on BBC America – also handled its queer characters with grace in 2009.

BBC America did a great service to the LGBT community when it decided to air the third season of the award-winning drama Skins.

The story is set in Bristol, South West England, where Naomi and Emily (played by Lily Loveless and Kathryn Prescott) are trying to navigate their way their way through all of the drama that comes with being teenagers, including their unexpected budding lesbian romance.

Early in the season it became apparent that Emily was smitten with Naomi. Rumors were already circulating that Naomi was a lesbian, and the ironic source of the rumors was Emily. Because of that, Naomi was not interested in palling around with her.

After a while, the two made up at a friend’s birthday party – and then proceeded to get trolleyed and makeout.

Afterward, Emily did not disguise her feelings, but Naomi was not receptive. As they grew closer, Emily continued to pursue a romantic relationship, even though Naomi refused to admit that anything other than friendship was going on between them. Finally, after much flirting and questions about what lesbians actually do in bed, Emily and Naomi slept together.

Even after that, Naomi was reluctant to admit that she was falling for another girl.

Emily, on the other hand, was keen to come out. When she told her friend Thomas she was gay, he simply said, “That’s fine. Shall we get a taxi? I don’t think the bus is going to come anytime soon.”

Emily’s parents (and twin sister, Katie) were less receptive to her coming out. (Of course, it lacked the tact most books suggest you use when telling your parents that you’re gay, but it is still rather impressive.)

“I’ve been making love to a girl … Her name’s Naomi, she’s rather beautiful, so I was nailing her.”

Despite the fact that they were still “holding hands through a cat flap,” Emily begged Naomi to be brave and fight for her. In the finale, Naomi did just that. She attended the school’s ball, took Naomi by the hand, and told her she loved her.

Cable TV’s other queer teen, Isabelle Hodes (played by Allie Grant), continued to hold her own with her formidable mother, Celia (played by Elizabeth Perkins), in the fifth season of Weeds.

As a recurring character, Isabelle was only in about half of the Weeds episodes in 2009, but every appearance was a treat as she refused to back down about being a lesbian, despite Celia’s constant criticism.

On an episode of the Weeds web series Good Morning Agrestic, the morning show host introduced a segment called “Too Young To Be Gay?” in which Isabelle appeared with her mom (her dad is the show’s co-host) to defend her sexuality.

“Isabelle Hodes, come on out!” the host cried.

“I already did, Pam.” Isabelle replied.

Pam wondered if 13 is too young to know that you’re gay. She blamed the “gay-friendly programming” which “makes it harder and harder for young people to resist this temptation.”

Celia could not have agreed more. “Just because gay is the new black doesn’t mean it’s your color, sweetheart,” she told Isabelle.

“Well ‘bitch’ isn’t a color either,” Isabelle replied. Then she launched into the first-ever Weeds PSA: “Do you know that 40% of the kids in America are gay, and 25% get kicked out when they reveal their sexual orientation to their parents.”

Isabelle even had a momentary love interest in 2009. Danielle (played by Erin Sanders) had been a fan of Isabelle from her days as a Huskaroo clothing model. She even knew the Huskaroo theme song.

Isabelle’s potential romance was overshadowed by Celia, who was so bored and locked into You’re Pretty cosmetics that she almost had a lesbian affair with the company’s owner. In one scene, she told Isabelle that she was “off to swap [some] cheddar for some heady nuggets” and then “perhaps eat a salad” and get her “Sapphic freak on.”

She did not. And neither did Isabelle.

Unfortunately most of the characters who got their Sapphic freak on in 2009 were fauxmosexal Sweeps pawns. Gossip Girl‘s Vanessa and Olivia (played by Jessica Szhor and Hilary Duff) participated in a threesome purely for the benefit of a male character. Penny and Joanna (played by Sara Rue and Lindsay Price) shared a full moon-induced smooch on Eastwick. Even Susan and Gabby (played by Teri Hatcher and Eva Longoria Parker) locked lips on Desperate Houswives.

At least they got the desperate part right.

REALITY TELEVISION

If unscripted television has taught us one thing, it’s that there are “lesbians” and then there are “reality show lesbians.” Sometimes they’re the same thing; often they are not.

AfterEllen.com Editor in Chief, Karman Kregloe, wrote this about the upcoming reality series, The Real L Word:

Ultimately, lesbians and bi women, or, more specifically, lesbian and bi sexuality, have always been great for reality television (particularly when combined with booze and a hot tub). But reality television, save for a few exceptions, hasn’t always been great for us. That’s what makes me a bit nervous about The Real L Word. We all know that visibility matters, but the nature and context of that visibility are key.

We do not have the fortitude to highlight every reality show that exploited girl-on-girl kissing for the sake of ratings in 2009, so we’ll just mention the most obvious: MTV’s A Double Shot at Love with the Ikki Twins.

The dating show was MTV’s answer to the “void” left by Tila Tequila‘s A Shot at Love. In the new incarnation of the series, men and women competed for the affection of a pair of twins, hoping to win the love of one or both of them. After 24 elimination rounds and an unlimited supply of bikinis and booze, the Ikki twins chose contestant Trevor over contestant Rebekah.

What did they do with him? We’re assuming something icky. We think Rebekah probably dodged a bullet.

Unlike MTV, Bravo has made a name for itself by offering gay-friendly reality shows with loads of entertainment – as opposed to shock – value. Their headline lesbian is Tabatha Coffey, the fan favorite from the first season of Shear Genius.

Tabatha’s Salon Takeover aired its second season in 2009. On the show, Tabatha went into failing salons to whip the owners and stylists into shape. Her advice was often caustic – and almost always right.

Here are some of her more heated exchanges:

“You are the most f–king annoying, aggravating, arrogant, delusional man that I think I have ever met.”

In response to “I have to get a brush”: “You have to get a f–king brain as well.”

“Put some clothes on, because you look like a bunch of f–king hillbillies.”

“You look like you should be on a street corner.”

“I don’t give a f–k if you like me or not, because you know what? I can’t stand you.”

“This has to be the most ghetto, unprofessional thing I have seen in 26 years. It’s useless. Just absolutely f–king useless.

Like I said, Tabatha is a fan favorite.

Many openly gay women were featured on international reality programming this year as well. Nanna Grundfeldt won Finland’s Next Top Model. Mariette Hansson, a contestant on Sweden Idol, came out. So did Lola Van Vors from Australia’s Next Top Model. And Kate Cook, the self-professed “Harley-riding lez,” made it to the top six on Australian Idol.

It’s interesting to note that gay American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert was forced to stay closeted when the show aired on American television in 2009, while the sexuality of international reality show competitors seemed to be a non-issue.

ACTUAL LESBIAN AND BISEXUAL WOMEN ON NON-REALITY TELEVISION.

America may not have been ready to vote for an openly gay reality show contestant in 2009, but the country had no problem turning to lesbians for news and entertainment.

Once again, Ellen DeGeneres‘ daytime talk dominated the air waves. Her on-air quest to land on the cover of O Magazine was one of the highlights of the daytime television season. After many shenanigans Oprah agreed to share the cover with Ellen – for only the second time; the first with with Michelle Obama. She then insisted that Ellen and her wife, Portia de Rossi, join her for a “television event” when they unveiled the magazine covers.

In addition to her talk show’s success, Ellen also guest judged an episode of So You Think You Can Dance, which ultimately led to Fox offering her a job as a permanent judge on American Idol.

Portia enjoyed her share of television visibility this year too. Her freshman comedy, Better Off Ted, was such rating’s success that ABC picked up a full season and subsequently ordered a second.

When she was not working her comedic magic, Portia made a few notable talk show appearances. The first was her joint interview on Oprah. She spoke candidly about coming out, living out, and how she met and fell in love with Ellen.

It took me three years to actually tell her how I felt about her because I was on Ally McBeal at the time, not living as an openly gay person. I was closeted and very very afraid that if I talked about being gay, it would be the end of my career – so I wasn’t about to then date the most famous lesbian in the world.

We met socially and felt an immediate draw. We did talk a little bit and then over those three years we saw each other at parties or various things, but the one time that was the most significant was during a photoshoot. I walked over to say hello to her and, I couldn’t believe it, but she turned around and it was like an arrow shot through my heart. I was weak at the knees, overwhelmed with how I felt. It took me 10 months to do anything about it.

Her second talk show appearance was an interview on The View. She went on to promote Ted, but ended up defending marriage equality to Elizabeth Hasselbeck:

Of course the word [“marriage”] isn’t more important than the rights. But without the word, we don’t have equal rights … Every citizen of this country should have that legal right to be married. Marriage the word actually does mean something because people who see a gay coupling as like a lesser thing in society can continue to be lesser than marriage when really it’s the exact same thing. The exact same love, the exact same commitment, love of family, you know.

An equal defender of marriage equality in 2009 was out political pundit Rachel Maddow, whose Rachel Maddow Show has never tried to hide its progressively gay agenda.

Airing after MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olberman, The Rachel Maddow show has held onto steady ratings of about 1,000,000 viewers. One of Maddow’s more conspicuous shows aired in December, when she took “reparative therapist” Richard Cohen to task because his book, “Coming Out Straight” was the catalyst for Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” bill.

In the interview, Cohen purported that he is, in fact, able to coach people out of homosexuality, and that his mission is one of love and understanding. Maddow eviscerated him, reading various passages from his books and newsletters in which he claimed that gay people “go after children” and that “divorce, death of a parent, adoption, religion, race, rejection by opposite sex peers” are all factors in a person “becoming” homosexual.

When he tried to back-peddle, Maddow said, “I’m reading from your book, dude.”

She also noted that his license had been stripped by the American Psychological Association.

Openly gay CNN Headline News anchor, Jane Velez-Mitchell, also enjoyed mainstream success this year. In fact, she published a book about getting sober and coming out, and she even visited Dr. Phil to promote it.

We probably can’t consider Wanda Sykes‘ late night talk show “news,” but the lesbian comic tackles plenty of politics and headlines on her hour-long Saturday night show, which premiered in November.

Sykes has been offered various talk shows and hosting gigs for years. What finally made her decide to take the plunge? She told TV Guide:

There’s so much going on in the country: First black president, I’m married, I have kids. The opportunity to be out here every week, with my face out here, especially an African American woman and a lesbian, too. How many times do you get an opportunity to have a network show?

After coming out as gay and married in November 2008, Sykes has spoken openly and warmly about her sexuality and family in every interview she’s given, and that includes her Wanda Sykes Show media blitz on The View, Oprah, The Joy Behar Show and Late Night With Jay Leno.

And, of course, no list of actual lesbian entertainers would be complete without mentioning Glee breakout baddie, the ubiquitous Jane Lynch

After years of playing supporting characters in various TV shows and movies (thank you, Judd Appatow), Jane Lynch found her household name-maker as Cheerios head coach Sue Sylvester. With half a season down, Lynch already received a Golden Globe nomination for her role.

Here are some of Sue’s best Glee quips:

Get ready for the ride of your life Will Schuester. You’re about to board the Sue Sylvester Express. Destination: horror!

You’re too busy chasing tail and loading your hair with enormous amounts of product. Today, it just looks like you put lard in it.

All I want is just one day a year when I’m not visually assaulted by uglies and fatties.

I empower my Cheerios to be champions. Do they go to college? I don’t know. I don’t care. Should they learn Spanish? Sure, if they wanna become dishwashers and gardeners.

Lynch also guest starred on Reno 911, Two and Half Men, The Cleveland Show and Party Down in 2009.

In her 2008 TV Review, Karman Kregloe wrote:

While it seems there will always be a place for lesbians and bisexual women in the unruly world of reality television, what was perhaps most notable about the representation of “real” queer women on television this year was the high number of out lesbian and bisexual actors (and one particularly notable newswoman) regularly seen on daytime and primetime broadcast and cable television.

The continuation of that trend in 2009 makes us hopeful about the future of lesbian and bisexual visibility on TV. After all, both Portia de Rossi and Ellen DeGeneres – the most successful, highest profile lesbian couple in the world – were convinced that they would never work again after they came out. Thankfully, they were both wrong.

INTERNATIONAL TELEVISION

With lesbian and bisexual characters dwindling on Stateside TV, many Americans turned to overseas programming this year. Spain’s Hospital Central and Los Hombres de Paco were two of the most popular international shows with AfterEllen.com readers.

Sadly, Los Hombres de Paco took its cue from American writers with its 2009 lesbian storyline. The super popular lesbian couple Silvia and Pepa (played by Marián Aguilera and Laura Sanchez) were lucky enough to share the same amount of physical intimacy as heterosexual couples on the Spanish soap. They got engaged, and their wedding even went off without a hitch.

Until Silvia was gunned down in her wedding dress.

She died an agonizingly painful death in the arms of Pepa.

On Hospital Central, the famous lesbian couple Esther and Maca (played by Fátima Baeza and Patricia Vico) saw their share of ups and downs, but the couple (who had been estranged from one another) finally began the slow process of reuniting this season. They even decided to move back in with one another.

Unfortunately (always with the “unfortunately”), Beaza and Vico have decided to leave the show next season. Hopefully they will hold hands as they ride off into the sunset. It may seem cliche, but it’s not as played as a lesbian dying on her wedding day.

THE YEAR AHEAD

We confess that things look bleak for lesbian visibility in 2010.

In 2009, cable said goodbye to dozens of lesbian and bisexual characters with The L Word. Daytime lost all of its lesbian characters. And of the lesbian/bisexual women on network TV, the only show that will definitely be back in 2010 is Grey’s Anatomy.

But if 2009 taught us anything, it’s that authentic, endearing queer characters and couples can come from the most unlikely places. We were finished with Grey’s Anatomy when they fired Brooke Smith. And while we still miss her character, we are glad they’ve given us Calzona.

We’re looking across the pond for our most exciting prospects in the coming year.

BBC3 is producing Lip Service, Scotland’s answer to The L Word. Set in Glasgow and created by openly gay writer Harriet Braun, the show will air on BBC3 in the spring.

Said Braun:

I loved The L Word but it’s high time we saw some contemporary British lesbians, with all the bad weather, trips to the pub and repressed emotions that go with that. It will be as funny as it is pathos-filled, because in my experience that’s how life is.

BBC2 is working on The Secret Diaries Of Miss Anne Lister, a drama about Britain’s “first modern lesbian.”

Anne Lister produced a four million word diary that has only recently been fully decoded. In it she writes about her life as a gay woman in the 1800s. She spares no details about the romances she engaged in and the lovers she took. She even eventually married a wealthy heiress.

And then there is The Real L Word.

The producers are apparently looking for real women who fit the profiles of the characters on the show. Will it be organic? Will it be authentic? Will it be realistic? We don’t know. But we know it will be dramatic – and hopefully not in that Ikki Twins way.

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