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Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever. (October 3, 2008)

DID FOX KNOW THEY HIRED A LESBIAN TO STAR IN A HIT SHOW?

Last week’s Sunday New York Times had a story called out “Out in Hollywood,” focusing on the roles available for gay and lesbian actors in film and television. The usual suspects were included – Neil Patrick Harris, T.R. Knight, Ellen DeGeneres – but there was also an interview with Fringe star Jasika Nicole, who said she doesn’t find it difficult to be open about her relationship with her girlfriend, Claire Savage.

“There’s no way I can keep quiet. I want to be clear this is my partner,” Nicole told the Times. “I don’t want to make that shameful in any kind of way.”

Nicole, who plays an FBI agent on the new Fox series (which just picked up for a full season), is one of the few positive voices in the article, and a shining example of being out, proud and having a career. She’s also one of the only openly gay women of color on a primetime network TV show.

Prior to Fringe, the Brooklyn-based actress (who is also an illustrator) has been on Law and Order: Criminal Intent; the short-lived Parker Posey series, The Return of Jezebel James; and in the 2006 film Take the Lead. Her drawing work is very queer, featuring sweet autobiographical images of her in bed with her girlfriend and going about her daily routine. She recently penned a guest blog for MTV on “The Science of Comics,” writing on her love for the art.

We’re working on interviewing her for AfterEllen.com soon (though we can’t promise cuddly girlfriend pictures).

STRIKE WHILE THE CHEF IS HOT

What would a season of Top Chef be without a lesbian contestant? Less hot, that’s for sure – which is why the news of Top Chef: New York featuring out chef Jamie Lauren has us saying bravo to Bravo!

Lauren is originally from New York City but now lives in San Francisco, where she is the executive chef at Absinthe Brasserie & Bar. She also enjoys tattoos, dancing in the kitchen and Marc Jacobs, according to various interviews on the internet. I could not, however, locate information on her marital status so that remains a mystery (at least to me).

The chef will be heating up the kitchen on the new season of Top Chef when it premieres on Nov. 12. Until then, New Yorkers can try their luck at locating the production house in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and report back on Lauren’s whereabouts filming locations for upcoming challenges.

– by Trish Bendix

TIME TO BUY ANOTHER GRAVY BOAT

Melissa Etheridge and her partner, Tammy Lynn (Michaels) Etheridge, are the latest celesbian couple to announce they’re getting hitched, legally.

Etheridge and Michaels had a civil union ceremony in 2003 but now plan to make it official thanks to the California Supreme Court decision in May that overturned the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.

Etheridge told Extra the couple’s intentions earlier this week: “We have four children, and we’re trying to find the right time now actually to go down and do it.”

They might want to hurry, given the initiative on the state’s Nov. 4 ballot that would re-ban gay marriage. So, if you want to give the longtime lovebirds some time to really plan their dream wedding, be sure to vote “No” on Prop. 8.

IT REALLY IS AN UNLUCKY NUMBER

Bisexual doctor Thirteen (Olivia Wilde) will finally get to be bisexual in more than just name. Thirteen will share a kiss and then some with another woman in an Oct. 21 episode titled – and I’m not kidding – “Lucky Thirteen.”

House executive producer Katie Jacobs said the coupling is a result of a “bit of a spiral” for Thirteen associated with her recent Huntington’s diagnosis:

When you don’t know how many years you have left to live, you might exhibit some reckless, risk-taking behavior. And she doesn’t express it through her work, but after hours, she’s leading quite a life … Thirteen’s sexual involvement with this woman is not really about this other woman. It’s about Thirteen’s reckless behavior. It’s not the first time she’s done it, and it won’t be the last time.

Great, so when her bisexuality finally manifests itself, it’s shown as reckless, risk-taking behavior? Kissing another girl is risky? I think the writers spent too much time listening to Katy Perry over the summer.

And the news doesn’t get too much better for those hoping to see Thirteen in a more positive same-sex coupling. Jacobs told Entertainment Weekly‘s Michael Ausiello that a major, potentially romantic storyline would develop between Thirteen and Foreman (Omar Epps) in November when she agrees to participate in his clinical trial. The two “are going to be spending a serious amount of time together.”

Oh, groan. While I will always appreciate the inclusion of more gay female characters on TV, it’s staggering how many times the bisexual women end up with a man instead of a woman. Also, Thoreman is a terrible nickname. It’s definitely no Callica.

BISEXUAL QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

“Yes, I had my rite of passage. I was 16, and I wasn’t really in control of the situation, if you know what I mean. It was much more about a male fantasy of seeing two women together. But I loved the girl a lot; she was one of my closest friends.I think falling in love is actually more about falling in love with an individual. We’re all potentially bisexual; it all depends on your circle, your upbringing, and all kinds of things. Or maybe I’m just talking about myself. I could’ve easily fallen in love with a woman over a man. My husband Ol’s kind of a man-woman. Look, I once loved Tim Curry, so there you go.”

— British actress Thandie Newton to The Advocate. She also told the magazine her husband Ol Parker‘s lesbian romantic comedy Imagine Me & You was based on their relationship.

by Dorothy Snarker

I’LL TAKE ZACH FOR $1,000, ALEX

As we told you a few weeks ago, Eden Riegel will return to ABC’s All My Children on October 17 as the “beloved” Bianca Montgomery.

This time, she’s not just dropping in for a holiday or a wedding or to spout words of wisdom that turn a family tragedy into triumph. She’ll be around for a while and, in a few weeks, her girlfriend Reese (Tamara Braun) will join her.

AfterEllen.com reader Pyewacket tipped us off to the latest details about Bianca’s return. But first, allow me to raise my voice:

If you want to be surprised, just move along. In fact, I’ll even give you something to do for the next few minutes. Hop over to Eden’s online show, Imaginary Bitches. In the latest episode, Eden’s character tries to figure out if she’s a lesbian.

Still here? OK. Bianca will return to All My Children around the time that a horrible tornado shakes the very foundations of Pine Valley! That’s an exclamation mark, people!

TV Guide reports that nobody knows she’s in town until her brother-in-law finds her under the rubble. But, quoting SOAPnet.com, “the physical affects [sic] of the tornado are miniscule compared to the ripples Bianca’s presence creates.” Bianca has been out as a lesbian for years and has been through a handful of relationships with women, so bringing her girlfriend home can’t be all that shocking. But if the startling storyline is the one reported by soapcentral.com, you might want to have a barf bag ready.

When Bianca returns to town this time, she will have a brand new ‘someone special’ in her life and a big surprise – Bianca is pregnant! And wait until everyone finds out who the “father” is.

Collective groan goes here.

I won’t bother raging about pregnant lesbians, since Sarah Warn wrote the definitive rant about the subject five years ago. I won’t even accuse heterosexual writers of perpetuating a stereotype, since queer television shows have done the same thing (I’m looking at you, Queer as Folk, The L Word and Exes & Ohs).

Instead, I will sigh and share some theories about Bianca’s pregnancy.

To catch up non-AMC-watchers: Binx’s daughter Miranda was the result of a rape and, eventually, Bianca killed the rapist, Michael Cambias, the little brother of Bianca’s sister Kendall’s husband, Zach Slater. Got that?

With that in mind, one theory is that Bianca wants a baby who is actually related to Miranda and will ask Zach to father her child. If she already is pregnant when she gets to PV, then Zach could’ve “donated” last time Bianca was in town. (In soap-opera time, it’s possible.) Either way, it makes for a nice, soap opera-ish scandal. Icky, but very AMC.

Another popular rumor is that Bianca’s former lover Zoe, the pre-op MTF transsexual, is the father.

That whole storyline made me tired – Bianca fell for a man and questioned her lesbianism, but the man transitioned to a woman. Oh! Still a lesbian! Exclamation mark!

While I applaud the inclusion of a transgender person in the show, did the lesbian have to fall for her? But I digress. One argument for this theory is that the soapcentral.com spoiler put “father” in quotes.

The “father” is really a “mother” trapped in a “father’s” body. Surprise! Yawn.

The final theory – one that combines the best of Bianca’s past storylines – is that her girlfriend Reese actually used to be a man, also named Reese. But before Reese accepted her sexuality, she had a breakdown, during which she raped and impregnated Bianca. Being the angel that she is, Bianca helped Reese uncover the cause of her rage and not only forgave her, but stayed by her side throughout her MTF transition. The pair fell in love in the process and will return to Pine Valley to escape the painful memories and start a new life and family.

OK, I made that one up. But seriously, is it any more ridiculous than the rest of Bianca’s life?

Here’s an idea: Have Bianca and Reese be in a loving, healthy long-term relationship. That storyline might just prove to be the most shocking of all.

– by the linster

BREAKING NEWS: MEDIA SHOCKS WORLD BY EXPLOITING COMING-OUT STORY

This week on Britain’s Radio 4, BAFTA award-winning actress and Hufflepuff head of house Miriam Margolyes shared a grievous coming-out story. When Margoyles was in her 20s, she told her mother that she’d had an affair with a woman. Several days later, her mother had a stroke, and Margolyes has been blaming herself for it for 40 years.

“I realized that telling people things that they can’t deal with is an indulgence,” she said. “It caused the person I loved most in the world a pain she could not bear. And I have to take the responsibility for that. I should have been aware that that was something I could not say.”

I’m no doctor, but I’m pretty sure the loss of brain function due to a disturbance in blood vessels cannot be caused by poorly received information. It sounds like something Elizabeth Bennet’s mom would have claimed in Pride and Prejudice, to be honest. But the human psyche is a tricky thing, and guilt takes lots of demonic forms.

Margolyes’ story got a lot of attention in the UK. “Margolyes’s gay confession led to mother’s stroke” and “Miriam Margolyes: ‘My confession killed my mother’” were just a few of the ridiculous headlines that sold newspapers this week.

The media loved the idea that while gay men and women seem to be coming out in droves lately, one famous lesbian wishes they’d just keep it to themselves.

“I don’t agree with actors talking about their sex life,” she said. She advised other actors to “keep such things to yourself” because of the distress they can cause.

Part of me wants to shake Miriam Margolyes, because when famous lesbians come out, it so often allows regular ol’ lesbians to follow suit. The other part of me wants to hug Miriam Margolyes, because that’s what my mom did when I came out: She jumped into the backseat of a moving car to hug me. And, whether she realizes it or not, Margolyes’ courage 40 years ago helped pave the way for that kind of celebration.

IF SHE LOSES, SHE COULD ALWAYS APPLY AS THE ASSISTANT TO THE REGIONAL MANAGER AT DUNDER-MIFFLIN

The NBC reality show America’s Toughest Jobs has wrangled itself a lesbian contest named Sandy Gabriel, and if you tell me the answers to her questionnaire at nbc.com don’t intimidate you at least a little, then you are a liar.

Here, let me summarize:

Why do you think you can win ATJ? I refuse to lose. I outwork anyone that I’m ever next to. What are your strengths? I refuse to lose. Weaknesses? I have no weaknesses. I rock at everything I do. What are your best qualities? I refuse to be mediocre. I refuse to do anything half-assed.

She’s either a serious badass, or Dwight Schrute answered those questions for her. I’m hoping, for Sandy’s sake, it’s badass, because apparently one of America’s toughest jobs is bull fighting.

Also, occasionally referred to as “getting trampled.”

Even if Sandy hadn’t introduced us to her “wifey” in the first episode of America’s Toughest Jobs, we’d still know she’s a lesbian.

Just look how at home she is in those tough job hats.

– by StuntDouble

SPANNING THE GLOBE IN COMFORTABLE SHOES

While the U.S. has been preoccupied with bringing a financial apocalypse upon itself and others, the international entertainment community has been devoting its time to more considerable endeavors: Showing lesbians on television.

Here’s a quick jaunt around the globe to see what our friends in other lands are watching.

MEXICO

AfterEllen reader Rogue tipped us off to some news about Mujeres Asesinas (Women Murderers), a Mexican version of the eponymous Argentinean TV series about, well, women murderers. I like it already.

The series is a mix of fact and fiction and revolves around the DIEM, The Department of Special Investigation Women, an organization that incorporates information and technology to bring the mind and motivations of dangerous women to light.

In other words, it’s an online personals website.

The current Mexican media buzz centers around two famous actresses, Verónica Castro and Lucía Méndez, who are slated to play a lesbian couple on the show. This is kind of a big deal for two reasons: It’s still scandalous for well-known actors to play gay on Mexican television, and there’s a real-life rivalry between Castro and Méndez, which promises to make their fictional lesbian couplehood all the more compelling.

As if that weren’t enough to make Mujeres Asesinas must-see TV, there’s also been speculation about which team Verónica Castro plays for in real life.

It sure beats four lousy minutes of Callica. Who’s up for a road trip to Tijuana?

ITALY

Meanwhile, according to an article on eurout.org, Italian television has a new hospital drama called Terapia d’urgenza, which shatters the prime-time lesbian glass ceiling with not one, but two lesbian characters: pediatrician Marina, and the object of her work-place advances, nurse Ester.

Does the Vatican know about this?

Terapia d’urgenza is an adaptation of the popular Spanish series Hospital Central, and follows the lives and loves of a Milan hospital’s emergency room staff.

Among them are the aforementioned Marina Ranieri del Colle (Alessia Barela), a self-assured, hot pediatrician from a rich family, and Ester (Elisabetta Rocchetti), an easygoing, smart nurse from a working-class background.

To do research for her role, eurout.org reports Barela studied that other lesbian named Marina, by watching episodes of The L Word. Oh that’s just great.

In other news, for her upcoming role as a lifeguard, Barela plans to screen all 11 seasons of Baywatch.

After learning about Barela’s exposure to the U.S.’s most significant contribution to lesbian television, EurOut.org observed, “oh my Gosh! They are going to think that lesbians f— all the time!”

We should all be so lucky. Some of us have to practice medicine occasionally. Or, if we live in Mexico, we’re busy murdering people.

Gay.tv quotes (in Italian) one description of the show, which says the program explores “the most dramatic themes of the reality of every day: racism, social exclusion, drug addiction and alcoholism, domestic violence, homosexuality, drugs and violence in stadiums, anorexia …”

And who wouldn’t want that cozy spot between “domestic violence” and “drugs and violence in stadiums”?

NEXT PAGE: Latin America

LATIN AMERICA

And finally, a show from HBO Latin America Group is donning comfortable shoes with a new Portuguese-language show called Alice.

Thanks to reader Karina for sending the details on this series about a young Brazilian woman who leaves her sheltered, provincial life for a funeral in fast-paced São Paulo.

A whole new world opens up to Alice when she decides to stay in the big city, but Alice is not the one falling for another woman. Instead, the lesbian storyline will belong to Alice’s open-minded Aunt Luli, played by veteran actress Regina Braga.

Luli looks like everyone’s favorite kooky aunt – the one with a love for life, circus-crazy outfits, and possibly, a handbag full of pilfered restaurant condiments.

At some point during the 13 episodes of Alice, formerly straight, 50-something Aunt Luli will become romantically involved with another woman of a certain age, Dora (Denise Weinberg).

The website OGlobo Online reports (in Portuguese) that Luli and Dora start out as friends, but end up doing something other than needlepoint in a São Paulo motel room.

A rough translation of the article says (I think), “Denise [Weinberg]… noted that the scene was pure fun.” Leave it to HBO to break new ground by showing older women exploring their sexuality.

And if they turn out to be doctors who are also killers, I’m moving to Brazil.

– by Dara Nai

A GREAT NEW IDEA

AfterEllen.com reader Kestin tipped us off that the new issue of New Zealand women’s magazine New Idea features a gushing two-page spread on the civil union ceremony of Rebecca Singh, a 33-year-old newscaster for New Zealand’s TV channel TV3, and her girlfriend of five years, 37-year-old television producer Kelly Rice.

Singh, a native of Fiji and the first woman of Indian descent to anchor a mainstream news show in New Zealand, met Rice when they worked on the TV2 show Queer Nation together in 2003.

At the wedding, the brides wore pantsuits, were escorted down the aisle by their fathers, toasted by co-workers, family and friends, and had a poem read by Rice’s 11-year-old niece.

Sadly, since there were no drugs, suspicious deaths, or random acts of violence at the ceremony, you won’t be seeing their life story on a television screen near you anytime soon.

NEXT PAGE: The U.S. Vice Presidential Debate, and Otep Shamaya

SICK OF SARAH PALIN

Watching the vice-presidential debate last night, I was disappointed but not surprised that both candidates were in agreement in their “non-support of redefining the traditional definition of marriage” (i.e. they’re against legalizing same-sex marriage).

Biden expressed support for other kinds of rights for gays and lesbians (hospital visitation, joint property ownership, etc.), but this is how Sarah Palin chose to express her “support” for the gays:

I also want to clarify, if there’s any kind of suggestion at all from my answer that I would be anything but tolerant of adults in America choosing their partners, choosing relationships that they deem best for themselves, you know, I am tolerant and I have a very diverse family and group of friends…

Gee, thanks Sarah. Your tolerance of my “choice” to be gay is so tolerant of you.

Watch it for yourself here:

Sufficiently annoyed/depressed? Cheer yourself up by watching last weekend’s Tina Fey and Amy Poehler’s Sarah Palin skit, or visiting InterviewPalin.com. And keep your fingers crossed for a really funny version of the debate on SNL this Saturday night!

LESBIAN QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“One specific thing that I think has been interesting in this campaign is the use of ‘sexism’ and ‘sexist’ as an epithet in completely inappropriate ways. The Republicans’ strategy, in putting Sarah Palin on their ticket, and the way they have presented her, and they way they have structured their political fortifications around her, has been to cry sexism at any criticism of her, to cry sexism at any political glance toward her. What they are doing is the form of sexism that you see in ostentatious chivalry.”

– MSNBC political talk show host Rachel Maddow, to AfterEllen.com

WHAT DO HEAVY METAL, SELF-ESTEEM, AND CLIMATE CHANGE HAVE IN COMMON?

Otep Shamaya, the openly gay lead singer of the heavy metal band Otep, chatted with Dave Navarro this week on his internet talk show Spread TV.

In the interview, Otep talks about the environment, politics (not surprisingly, she’s a Democrat), and her new website AllShapesAndSizes.org, which is designed to promote self-esteem.

I’m not a huge heavy metal fan – in fact, I’m not really a fan of heavy metal at all – but I like the way Otep described that genre of music in our 2005 interview with her, as “sort of a dissident cabaret … delivering the experience of the topic of the song, versus just singing about it.”

Otep herself is consistently intelligent, thoughtful and determined in her efforts to improve the world, and I appreciate that she is willing to be out in a such a male-dominated genre of music.

Watch her interesting and entertaining interview here:

Otep and her band also performed their song “Confrontation” live – watch it on ManiaTV.com.

NEXT PAGE: Lindsay Lohan on the cover of OK! Magazine

THIS WEEK IN LINDSAY

I promised myself we were going to go a whole week without mentioning Lindsay Lohan again because we’ve written about her so much recently.

But the latest issue of OK! magazine touting “Lindsay Lohan Untold Love Story: My Life With Sam” on the cover foiled my plans.

Here’s the description of the story provided on the OK! website:

LINDSAY LOHAN: Finding Love and Her Plans for Marriage.

After a string of bad relationships, Lindsay Lohan has finally found love with DJ Samantha Ronson. OK! has the scoop on how they met and the positive effect they’ve had on each another. OK! also reveals the couple’s plans to walk down the aisle and maybe start a family.

On his website devoted to analyzing print magazine covers, editorial and communications consultant Mark Pesetsky writes:

Why do I love this cover of OK Magazine? It’s the first time a national celebrity weekly has treated a gay couple as “normal.” Gone is the “Yes, I’m Gay” line. In 2008, that line makes it feels like this type of story is a SHOCK. And, it’s not. Remember last week’s Clay Aiken cover? Instead, we see a line that could be used with any straight couple – “Untold Love Story.”

Yeah, what he said! There’s even a picture of Ellen in the bottom right corner, with the caption, “My Mom Inspires Me.”

Too bad the magazine had to ruin it, though, by showing that photo of Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds. Don’t get me wrong, I have a very diverse family and group of friends, and I’m tolerant of adults in America choosing their partners, but do they have to flaunt it?

by Sarah Warn

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

The L Word‘s final season will debut on January 18.

Rosie O’Donnell is hosting a live variety show on NBC on Nov. 26 that may turn into a series.

Melissa Etheridge has a new Christmas album out.

A newspaper editor in Finland claims she was fired for being gay; the newspaper’s parent company denies it.

Maile Flanagan (3Way) will be performing stand-up in Minneapolis on October 11th to emcee a benefit for Rainbow Families, whose mission is to ensure equality for LGBT families. Go here to buy tickets.

Bridget McManus is hosting a short new daily online show for self-help website PeopleJam.comwatch an episode here (and look for a new episode of Brunch With Bridget on Logo tonight/Saturday morning at 2am).

We launched two new vlogs this week: Alexi & Eric’s Closet, which provides fashion tips, and The Adventures of Nat and Meg, a road trip across America in search of lesbian life. Both will appear weekly on the site, but Nat and Meg’s next episode may be slightly delayed due to technical problems on the road. (Apparently vlogging while driving is illegal in some states. Who knew?)

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.

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