lesbian

Here we go again. This week's public outing features Michelle Rodriguez - star of Girlfight, former Lost cast member and ex-jailbird. I know. I know. You didn't realize that she wasn't out.

In an interview with The Advocate, The L Word's Kristanna Loken implies that she is in the middle of a hot and heavy romance with the late Ana Lucia. The Advocate questioned Loken directly about the relationship, and while she coyly eluded their inquiries, The Advocate went ahead with a "Michelle & Kristanna in love!" headline.

The preview for this weeks Blade teased a kiss between Krista (Jill Wagner) and Chase (Jessica Gower). In celebration of that possibility, I thought now would be a good time to touch on other girl-girl kisses in our television history. Sometimes they are to make a statement. Sometimes they are a ploy to grab ratings. And every once in a while, it's just a natural part of the story. Here are the five that come to mind first for me.

Roseanne (Roseanne Barr) and Sharon (Mariel Hemingway) - Roseanne
This was an important moment in television. At the time, there was no L-Word, and two girls kissing was still a very controversial thing. Roseanne has her faults, to be sure, but standing up to the network to get this episode on the air is something to be proud of.

Ally (Calista Flockhart) and Ling (Lucy Liu) - Ally McBeal
This one strikes me as somewhat the opposite of the Roseanne kiss. There was much less statement, and much more ratings grabbing sensationalism in this lip-lock. In that regard, it worked very well. Of course, the gang over at Ally McBeal had plenty of practice. Along with Ling, Ally also kissed Georgia (Courtney Thorne-Smith) and Elaine (Jane Krokowski). But if I have to pick one, it's Ling every time. And yes, I was an Ally McBeal fan.

GLAAD, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, have released their annual tally of gay characters in leading or supporting roles on network television, and they're not pleased with the results. They've counted nine gay, lesbian, or bisexual characters out of a total of eight shows. Meanwhile, the Eskimo Coalition is reporting much smaller numbers than GLAAD. Honestly, I don't know how to feel about this. I like to see everyone represented fairly, and for shows to represent the diversity that exists within these groups, but I'm not sure how realistic that is. It seems the content and themes of television programs are driven by the market more than anything. Once in awhile a show will manage to break through and set a new standard, but the notion that eventually everyone will be represented equally across the board seems a tad naive.

In her latest issue of O Magazine, Oprah feels its necessary to explain to people that she and her friend, Gayle King, are not gay. The article is about Oprah and Gayle's close friendship that has lasted 30 years. Oprah writes, "There isn't a definition in our culture for this kind of bond between women. So I get why people have to label it -- how can you be this close without it being sexual?" And Gayle says that, if they were gay, they'd come out publicly.

Wow. I must be living in a bubble. I always thought Oprah held her good friends close to her as she became uber-famous. I never thought of Oprah and Gayle as a couple (not that there's anything wrong with it!). Did anybody else get that vibe?

Moonlighting actress Cybill Shepherd will be joining the cast of The L Word for an eleven episode story arc starting in early 2007. The actress will play the Executive Vice Chancellor of California University and the boss of Bette Porter (Jennifer Beals). Her character is a married woman with two grown kids, but she begins to question her sexuality. Yeah, I know, I probably could have guessed the "questioning her sexuality" part, too. She joins Marlee Matlin, who was added to the cast recently. Actress Javina Gavankar is also joining the Showtime series.

You see what I did? I took the "you're out" catchphrase from Project Runway and made it about homosexuality! Applaud me for my cleverness! ... Okay, don't. On to my point: The fashion industry has plenty of gay designers (shock, surprise) so it's not that startling to see more than a few on a reality show about fashion design. This season, there were a few brief discussions about sexual orientation, including some stories that let us better understand and appreciate the designers (like Daniel Vosovic's background and how accepting his parents were when he finally came out). Well, I was reading this article/interview with some of the designers about sex advice (I swear, a friend sent this to me) and was surprised to read that Zulema (aka She-tangi) is a lesbian. A married one, at that.

Bravo is teaming up with PlanetOut, the largest gay media company in the nation, to create a broadband channel at OutZonetv.com. The website will feature various reality and documentary series targeted for a gay and lesbian audience. The president of Bravo says it's a far less expensive risk to launch original programming on the web than it is to create a brand new cable channel.

Outzone is the third broadband broadcasting project for Bravo. Last year, the company announced it was shutting down Trio on the air and putting it exclusively on the web. It also created a spin-off web channel, BrilliantbutCancelled.com, which currently offers episodes of only one show, EZ Streets, starring Joe Pantoliano.

Writers of The L Word are including the show's fans in a very unique way. They've started a 'fanisode' contest where fans team up with writers to script an episode one scene at a time. Each week, the writers will announce a scene mission on their website and fans create it. Then fans vote on which submissions they like the best. It's a process that repeats itself each week until an entire episode is created out of fan-chosen and fan-created scenes. However, writers are not guaranteeing that the particular episode will air.

The fans whose scenes are elected will receive prizes, mostly in the form of gift certificates or a piece of schwag from The L Word set. At the end of the competition, which is March 31, one of the previous winners will be randomly chosen for e-mail mentoring from one of The L Word's writers and a $1,000 gift certificate to Saks.

MTV's gay and lesbian Logo network is teaming up with comedian "Ant" (most of you will remember him from Last Comic Standing) to seek out gay life in small town America. For US of ANT the comedian will travel across the United States and visit random towns to see how the gay community is getting along. The comedian claims he'll be throwing a dart at a map to decide where to go, though I imagine a more scientific approach will probably be used. Or not.

 

Those of us who grew up in small towns know they don't always embrace alternative lifestyles. The idea has possibilities, and it will be interesting to see what the show does with its subject matter.

The season premiere of American Idol included a few questionable comments that have ticked off gay rights groups. The group, Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), is demanding to meet with Idol producers over two specific comments made by Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson. During one audition, Simon told a hopeful to "shave off your beard and wear a dress." I believe he added that the contestant would make an excellent female impersonator. The second comment came from Jackson, who asked an effeminate contestant named Zachary if he was a girl. Then, when Zachary left the auditions, the theme to The Crying Game was played. Neither contestant made it to the next round.

Rosie O'Donnell is returning to television, but this time she'll be behind the camera. She partnered up with MTV to launch a sketch comedy show on MTV's new network, Logo. The channel targets gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender viewers. O'Donnell's sketch show is going to be a lot like Saturday Night Live, featuring up-and-coming comedians, political and pop culture satire, and even some musical numbers. The show will also include celebrity guests who are "friends of the LGBT community." Rosie is serving as the show's executive producer, and she will pair with writers from The Rosie O'Donnell Show, which aired from 1996-2002. When Logo launches launched on June 30, it was in an estimated 19 million homes.

Surely, you've seen the ads for NBC's big new midseason dramedy, The Book of Daniel? The one where the Vicodin-addicted Episcopal priest talks to a bum-hippie Jesus about his drug dealing daughter and his gay son and the fact that his lesbian secretary is sleeping with his sister-in-law? You know, the one that looks like a piece of overcooked, self-conciously "quirky" Ally McBealist crap? As Adam pointed out yesterday morning, the American Family Association is even more excited about Daniel than I am, although for entirely different reasons; in fact, they're calling for NBC to cancel the show before it even airs. In a statement sent to their members, AFA said, "It would be beneficial to all if NBC showed a little more respect for Christians who believe the Bible." They're asking their members to bombard the network with letters until they get their way. Meanwhile, NBC has fought back with a statement of their own, predictably insisting that if we try it, we might like it. "We're confident that once audiences view this quality drama themselves, they'll appreciate this thought-provoking examination of one American family," the network says. 

Hmmmm... an absurdly reactionary organization is trying to get an apparently crap show canceled before it debuts. That's just silly. Then again, it is, by all appearances, a crap show. What side to take?

Who didn't see this one coming from about twelve million miles away? The Book of Daniel, the new series about a pill-popping priest who hangs out with Jesus and has a son who is gay and a daughter who sells pot has come under fire from the American Family Association. The AFA's favorite targets are shows or companies which they see as "gay friendly." The group most recently went after the Ford Motor Company for advertising in LGBT mags. They're urging a boycott of the show and its advertisers. I'm sure they have a few words for Jesus, too, and his decision to appear on this show.