Portia DeGeneres’ appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show yesterday was only one of the show’s great lesbian episodes. In her 25th and final season, we’re hoping there’s even more support for lesbians and bisexual women to follow. And we have a lot of reason to believe there will be: Not only has she helped Suze Orman become a world-renowned financial expert and TV personality, but she’s signed Rosie O’Donnell and Cat Cora on to host shows on her new OWN Network.
Here are some of our favorite lesbian moments on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Partners and Centreville Pie owners Kristin and Laurie just wanted Oprah to taste one of their pies when she was in Cape Cod, so they sent over a few. Oprah fell in love, and brought them on her show to announce she’d hooked them up with a partnership with Harry & David so that they can sell their pies worldwide.
Out lesbian Anna Sisco talked about her brother who was openly gay and died of AIDS after being the subject of ridicule and hate on an 1980s episode of Oprah. When Oprah asked if Anna felt it was easier to be gay in Williamson today, she said, “Toward gay women, I can say, it’s easier to accept than gay men, because that’s what they all tell me. But I’m reluctant to say complete, absolutely positive yes. Unfortunately I think people are still geographically uneducated about anyone other than in this area. I hate to say that, but it’s the way I feel.”
Out Jamaican poet Staceyann Chin was one of the guests, and she discussed the sexual assault and fear she faced as a gay woman in her home country. “I grew up listening to these songs like ‘Boom Bye-Bye,'” she told Oprah. “It really says that, you know, the sound of a gunshot is like boom bye bye, you know, you’re shooting a gay man in the head. They have to die. You always have to be looking over your shoulder for your own safety.”
After her break-up from long-time partner Kelli, Rosie opened up to Oprah about her new partner and what will happen with her children. She also discussed the pressure she felt in being a public poster child for a lesbian mother. “I remember when Melissa [Etheridge] and Julie broke up, I called Melissa and said: ‘Come on. There’s so few,'” Rosie said. “And she said, ‘Ro, your first goal in life is to be true to yourself, and your children will look at you and know when you’re living an authentic life.'”
The entire hour was dedicated to Chely’s knowing she was gay, being a closeted country star and how she decided to come out to her father. Her father was in attendance, and he recalled her coming out moment: “I didn’t say anything. I just grabbed her and I put my arms around her and I told her it was all right.”
The singer discussed her split with Tammy Lynn Michaels and how she is attempting to live fearlessly after surviving cancer and moving on with her life. Melissa told Oprah, “As I’ve gone through this life, having gone through breast cancer almost six years ago now, [I’ve learned] that it’s about evolving. I feel like now I’m walking my life. I’m realizing that I’m no good to anyone else unless I’m completely in love with myself and good with myself.”
Oprah talked to former high school football hero turned lesbian filmmaker, Kimberly Reed, who discussed Prodigal Son, her documentary about her life as a MTF. Her mom and partner joined in on the talk as well. Said Kim’s mom Carol, “With me, it was never a question of, ‘Do I believe in the Bible?’ I believed in my child. I believed that this child was thoughtful, intelligent. … I just knew that this was a decision that was painfully arrived at.”
While sitting on the couch next to her SATC co-stars, Cynthia Nixon talked about being in a relationship with a woman, and how she didn’t care if her partner was a man or a woman. When Oprah asked how that worked, Cynthia quipped, “You haven’t met my girlfriend.”
Inspired by the book Living Two Lives: A Married Women’s Guide to Loving Women, guests were author Joanne Fleisher and women who had come out later in life – including Nikki Weiss of The Real L Word. The episode won a GLAAD Award for Outstanding Talk Show Episode.
Jackie Warner and her employee/one-time-girlfriend Rebecca Condon Skyped in to talk about straight women who begin to experience later-in-life feelings for other women. Also on the show, Carol Leifer, whose appearance corresponded with a feature in that month’s O magazine. Rebecca said of Jackie: “I couldn’t get enough of her!”
A mother’s relationship with her gay daughter is strained after she came out and found a girlfriend. Oprah encouraged the mother to understand her daughter and love her for who she is. “It was like walking into a nightmare!” Kim said of her daughter’s coming out. “I was irate. I was hysterical. My dreams for Amanda died. My whole life flipped upside down.” But Oprah supported Amanda, and told Kim,”You really can’t do better than a 10-year-old having the courage to tell you.”
Ellen candidly discussed her coming out, losing her sitcom, and building herself up again both personally and professionally – all while being an out lesbian. Wife Portia joined in the discussion for how great it was to be so in love and able to be married. She told Oprah, “It’s a legal stamp of validity. It’s hard to know it feels until it happens. I hope everyone gets to have that feeling. The thing about being a gay couple is that, in the past, you referred to your wife and there was quotation marks around it and people could snicker about it. Now, it’s fact, it’s law – she’s my wife. I get to say she’s my wife and it’s a fact.”
