New Gay Heroes: Portia de Rossi

It’s been months since I posted an installment of New Gay Heroes. I’ve had a couple of posts for the series in mind for quite some time, but just haven’t gotten around to actually writing and posting them.  This weekend, though, I saw a little snippet on the Huffington Post that lit a fire under me to get going. So without further ado…

Portia de Rossi

It’s true that when we think of famous lesbians, the first blonde to come to mind might be her wife, but Portia de Rossi is surely a New Gay Hero in her own right.

She and wife Ellen do wonderful things for lesbian visibility by being out, being themselves and sharing their lives with the public.  Whether they are  beaming in the glow of their engagement on the red carpet…

Sharing their wedding photos in People magazine…

Playing the Newlywed Game and speaking candidly about their life and love on Ellen’s talk show…

Or talking about equal marriage rights on Oprah…

Ellen and Portia are, together, such a wonderful positive representation for lesbians and same-sex marriage.

But on her own, Portia has this habit of appearing on talk shows and effortlessly and eloquently speaking about marriage equality.  Just last week, she quite calmly fielded the (at times bizarre) questions of the ladies at The View with poise:

The very same day she also stopped by Good Morning America, where she again spoke about her marriage to Ellen and equal rights (that starts at about three minutes in):

I just love the way Portia speaks about equal marriage rights with such grace and ease.  She makes it sound just as simple as it should – if we don’t have marriage, we don’t have equal rights.  Plain and simple.  Portia always manages to explain that marriage is different from being “partnered” or “unioned” or whatever other nonsense opponents of our rights try to sell us – and she always does it without breaking a sweat.

Portia de Rossi is a New Gay Hero for sure.

New Gay Heroes: Rachel Maddow

Rachel Maddow

Oh, Rachel.  Rachel, Rachel, Rachel. What can I say?  I have an enormous crush on Rachel Maddow.  Now, I don’t want my giant crush to color my characterization of Rachel as a New Gay Hero, so let’s just get it out of the way at the start, and then move on, okay?  Rachel Maddow is hot.  She is only made hotter by how incredibly smart she is.  And I am still in total disbelief that I get to tune into a super hot, self-proclaimed butch dyke talk about politics and current events on tv every night. Hot. Hot. Hot.  Okay – Ahem!  Now that that’s out of my system…

Rachel Maddow is a New Gay Hero for being herself on television.  Sure, she takes off the glasses (they do cover a lot of her face – no television producer would let a tv host, male or female, butch or femme, wear them on-air), and puts on a suit and some make-up, but you’d never mistake her for a girly-girl, and her look is still undeniably lesbian-ish.  And when she appears on talk shows, she’s 100% Rachel – glasses, sneakers, and her decidedly butch clothes.

In our culture, butch women are so often vilified, and Rachel is such a great shining example to combat all the negativity.

Rachel is not just a New Hay Hero for her looks, of course, she is truly a New Gay Hero for what she says.  When Barack Obama won the election in November, there was a lot of buzz about what the liberals would have to talk about now – Rachel has given us that answer.  She covers the Obama administration’s every move, applauding that which she thinks is worthy of praise, and examining in depth that which makes her uneasy.  Very recently, Rachel has been all over Obama’s lack of action on Don’t Ask Don’t Tell:

And DOMA:

As an entertaining tv personality, a positive representation for butch (and all) lesbians, and a watchdog for LGBT rights issues, Rachel Maddow is surely a New Gay Hero.

New Gay Heroes

When I saw the movie Milk, I cried all through the credits, and all the way back to the car. I cried for the loss of Harvey Milk and all that he could have accomplished, and also for my community’s lack of a leader, a leader with Harvey’s vision, drive, and ability to inspire. When we think of the face of gay rights today, who do we think of? I really don’t know the answer to that. There isn’t one person in particular who comes to mind. But in the months since I saw Milk, a few gay public figures have inspired me, in ways great and small.  And so I have decided to start a little feature here on the blog called New Gay Heroes.

New Gay Heroes will feature members of the LGBT community in the public eye that inspire, educate, or entertain in a way that I think is beneficial to our community.  New Gay Heroes are people that I am proud to see represent my community, and give me hope for our future.

So without further ado, my first New Gay Hero is:

Wanda Sykes

In November 2008, Wanda Sykes made her official coming out at a gay rights rally in Las Vegas.   She was moved by the passing of Prop 8 to go public.  In her speech at the rally, she said:

“We took a huge leap forward and then got dragged 12 feet back. I felt like I was being attacked, personally attacked — our community was attacked.  Now, I gotta get in their face.  I’m proud to be a woman. I’m proud to be a black woman, and I’m proud to be gay.

They pissed off the wrong group of people.  They have galvanized a community. We are so together now and we all want the same thing and we shouldn’t have to settle for less. Instead of having gay marriage in California, no, we’re gonna have gay marriage across the country.”

Wanda isn’t a New Gay Hero just because of her empowering statements at that November rally, but also for her brilliant use of comedy as a way to share her life with the public – educating through laughter.

In May, Wanda was on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.  NBC won’t let me embed the video, but you can watch here (once the page loads you can click “Select Chapter” to watch Wanda’s two segments – which are totally worth sitting through a couple of ads, I promise!).  In her segments with Jay, Wanda talks about she and her wife Alex being new moms to twins.  She shared some hilarious tidbits about the twins’ birth by c-section, such as, “If the doctor tells you ‘Don’t look there,’ don’t look there!“  And when Jay commented that he prefers to be there for the conception rather than delivery, she responded ”I wasn’t even there for that!,” after which they and the audience erupted into laughter.

Wanda had a couple of great bits about parenting, which demonstrated (without spelling it out) that life isn’t that different for two moms as opposed to a mom and a dad.  On separation of baby duties, Wanda explained that since Alex is breastfeeding “She handles everything that goes in, and I handle everything that comes out.”  And on the difficulty of caring for multiples, she said ”I told my wife, if you ever find me in bed with another woman, you know I’m just there for a nap! I’m just trying to get some shut-eye!”

As an activist and a comedian, Wanda Sykes is such a positive figure for us to have on our side.  Seeing her on Jay Leno, talking about her wife and children just like any straight guest would, may not seem incredibly significant, but it is.  Sharing our stories helps people to understand us, and making them laugh in the process just makes it that much easier for them to relate.  And that’s what makes Wanda Sykes a New Gay Hero to me.

The “wife” heard ’round the world

Last night, The Accountant and I curled up on the couch to watch a DVR’d episode of Ellen.  I’d been waiting for weeks, and the day had arrived – Portia was going to be a guest on Ellen!

Ellen started the show as she always does, walking out to her theme song and loud cheers, before gleefully announcing, “My wife is here today!”

It’s funny because it seems like a small thing, Ellen having Portia as a guest on her show, but it felt huge to me.  As someone who has struggled in every day life with using the very appropriate word, “wife,” to refer to my spouse, it seemed revolutionary to see Ellen say it with such ease on television.  I can’t tell you how many times I have used the word “wife,” only to be looked at like I’m an extraterrestrial with three heads and a horn growing out of my forehead.  And now, here’s the most famous lesbian in the country, saying it on tv to enthusiastic cheers from the audience!

Of course there was some dancing

The interview was very sweet, with Portia talking about how married life is great, but she had to get used to Ellen being so famous and getting recognized everywhere they go.

My favorite part though, was right at the start, when Ellen took Portia’s shoe off and made her show the audience that she is not taller than her without the heels!  So adorable!

Thanks for the picture, Dorothy Snarker!

They also played The Newlywed Game against a straight couple from the audience and won!

Seriously, look at the way they are looking at each other!

The winning question: What’s the best gift your spouse has ever given you?  Both Portia and Ellen answered “her heart.” Awwww…

And then of course, Portia sang with Ellen in the bathroom (if you don’t watch Ellen – this is a recurring segment with guests).  Their song? “I Got You Babe.”

If you missed the show, you can catch the full bathroom singing segment on Ellen’s site, and the interview and Newlywed Game on Dorothy Surrenders and AfterEllen.

All pictures (except the shoe one) from Ellen’s website.

Bono: Better than ever

It seems that many fellow U2 fans have landed on my blog over the last few days by searching for “bono new haircut” or similar.  And who am I to disappoint?!

I don’t know if they/you are looking for just pictures, or perhaps an expert opinion, but I am pleased as punch to offer both.

Expert opinion: Bono, at just shy of 49 years of age, is looking better than ever, and the return to his late ’90s buzz-cut was a very, very, very good idea.

Bono’s haircut clearly has nothing to do with feminism, housewifery, or lesbianism, but I love this man.  I adore U2, and my oh my, do I love to look at Bono.  There’s no rhyme or reason – I just do.

So to my fellow Bono admirers, I hope you enjoy these images as much as I do (insert joke here about having “found what you’re looking for”).

All images found the old fashioned way – google. Click each one to see it at its location of origin.

We will soon return to your regularly scheduled programming…

Did you catch this?

Rachel Maddow was on The View this week.  Generally, I avoid that show with its shout-y, maddening, roundtable discussions, but this, is worth watching:

I was kind of surprised by how much they focused on Rachel’s sexuality.  I guess I just find it funny that at 30something years old, she’s still telling her coming out story, but on the flip side, I thought the View ladies presented all the gay questions pretty well.

And how about Whoopi?  Did you catch the “That door’s been open for years,” comment? My, my!  As far as I’ve seen, no one in the media is harping on that one.  Have we just accepted Whoopi as an out-but-not-out-but-probably-definitely-gay celebrity (you know, kind of like our favorite silver-haired news anchor…)?  Does  Whoopi’s sexuality being a non-issue mean a step forward for all of us?  Or am I totally off base – AfterEllen seems to think she’s straight (or perhaps open-minded, see Sarah Warn’s comment).  Who knows .  Love to Whoopi either way!

It’s too bad they had such little time with Rachel – you could tell they were rushing from topic to topic to get it all in, and by the time they got into some real politics, the show was over.

I think it’s great for lesbians that Rachel appeared on The View, which is my grandma’s favorite show.  She came across as charming and intelligent as always, and her “gay Desperate Housewives”  comment hit the perfect note for the audience.

Now please excuse me while I go daydream about Rachel Maddow showing up on my doorstep to clear my yard…

Noooo!

 

Are you kidding?

The media has been all over Eva Longoria for awhile now.  Everyone was saying she was pregnant, but she repeatedly denied the rumors.  So now the story has become: Eva Longoria – Fat! 

I took the bait and clicked when I saw the headline above, wondering if Longporia would go so far as to share her actual weight – up to a whopping 110 pounds perhaps??? – and found this quote from her:

“I stopped working out and gained about seven pounds over the summer, which is a lot for a small person. Every magazine is tearing me apart … I never went up a size. I just got rounder. I’m still a size 0.”

As a fellow petite lady, I will back her up on the assertion that seven pounds is a lot for a smaller gal – which is why it is pretty much impossible that she did not go up a size if she gained that much.  And notice how she points this out almost as if it’s the reason that the magazines should cut her some slack – meaning that if she had ballooned to an unimaginable size 2 or, heaven forbid, a size 4, they’d have every right to call her a fat slob?? But I digress. 

The interview also includes some pictures of her new, curvier bod:

Wow.  If this is what a ”round” figure looks like…

GOP Strategy: LIE

I would like to share this link with you.  You will note that is not from my favorite lefty-news source, The Huffington Post, or some biased blog – but from the Associated Press.  CLICK to read a short list of some of the bold faced lies told to the American people during the Republican National Convention.  You’ll find one, two, THREE shameless lies that Palin told in her speech on Wednesday night.

Palin continues to lie about her opposition to the “bridge to nowhere” - she claims she said “Thanks, but no thanks,” when in actuality, she was FOR the bridge before she was against it.  Palin claims that Obama has never authored a piece of legislation – FALSE.  And the piece de resistance: Palin says Obama will raise taxes when the Tax Policy Center’s analysis of each candidate’s economic plan shows that it is McCain’s plan that will raise taxes for the middle-class, while Obama’s plan will CUT them.

Lies, lies, lies – presented to the American people as facts.

If it weren’t for John Stewart, my head might explode.  Please enjoy this Daily Show clip for a hilarious recount of some recent Republican hypocrisy (EDIT: Okay, the video won’t embed – so you’ll have to click the link).

More Ellen & Portia!

Ellen has a couple of wedding pictures up on her website!  I know we’ll get to see much more tomorrow, when the People magazine issue hits the stands, but why wait until then??

So far, everything looks gorgeous – I can’t wait to see more!