hollywood: but where are the gay people?

[cimorene]

I was just thinking the other day how Sam Ronson reminded me of Wax, because they have a similar clueless dykey approach to dressing themselves that I find charming. (This reflection was spurred by







paparazzo photos of Lindsay Lohan and Sam Blackberrying and Louis Vuitton luggaging it up at Heathrow, where Sam is wearing a boys' ski cap, a big wool coat not unlike Wax's treasured MikeyWay coat, faded black skinny jeans and ugly sneakers.) Then Wax turned to me today spontaneously and said that back when I had my pixie hair I looked like Sam. Sam always looks like she hasn't slept well, but then, perhaps I look like that too, idk.

Anyway, despite the whole tightsarenotpants.com issue, and her Heathrow appearance in over the knee leather boots, I started thinking about how much I really do like Lindsay. And more than that: I like the fact that she and Sam exist, because there just aren't that many out lesbian celebrities, let alone in Hollywood - no others in my generation (I guess Michelle Rodriguez and Kristanna Loken are slightly older than Wax, but maybe they count).

And... that sucks.

I didn't even begin to realise how much it bothered me until Lindsay and Sam came out.

Slash is great, but we always know that we're advocating a subversive reading, one that's so subversive that it's underground and, woo, potentially offensive! The idea that fictional characters could represent my sexuality - the day-to-day boring domesticity of my life - that's something that could be insulting enough to inspire a lawsuit, who knows? It's something that some people within my own slash community consider too insulting to be applied to real people even if it is okay for fictional characters. And you know, that's not really okay for me. That's something that my own grandparents think is so shocking that gay marriage should be illegal, but they don't see why I should be upset about that (which is almost enough to make me want to have a proper wedding just to rub their faces in it even though I kind of hate the idea in a heteronormative institutions/bogus sentimentality/atheist way).

If it were possible for fandom to be a "happy place" or "safe place" to which I could retreat in the knowledge that it's all gay, and all pro-gay, I'd probably do it. I think it's part of why so much of the media that I consume comes from slash fandom. But it's not enough for several reasons: because participation in fandom always comes with the consciousness that we're subversive, because fandom lives under the cloud of legal threats; because in most cases the source material and its non-pro-gay or at least non-acknowledging-the-existence-of-gay-except-to-make-gay-jokes reality gets in the way; and even because there's still not a lot of lesbians represented there. To be honest, I'd probably still be disturbed by the paucity of out gay celebrities even if we were better represented in the media - not because I'm angry at closeted celebrities for not setting an example; they're victims in the same boat, and probably feel it more keenly. The absence is a benchmark of how far we haven't come. I bet Hollywood isn't going to represent gays before gay marriage is federally legal and good for a green card for Wax (not that I'd move there if it were: I'll stay in the first world where we have healthcare and gun control thx! But it might be nice to visit).

Comments

[geeklite.livejournal.com]

I keep getting emails from organisations that I've donated to to overturn Prop 8, and the emails seem to assume that the reader is gay. It makes me smile, but also sad that gay people have to live with society's assumption that they are straight, due to asshats being prejudiced asshats.

Err, which in my head is vaguely related to what you just said. And despite the fact that I am really not a fan of LL, I am a tremendous fan of the LL/SR relationship and hope they get married and have a million babies. Or cats. Or shoes.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

Probably the only one that wouldn't is PFLAG. *sigh* And to think I was embarrassed when my parents joined. It's appalling that the movement has to assume that as a baseline it doesn't have any allies. And I think that you're right that it's all connected.

(For LiLo and Sam I think shoes are most likely. Those jet-setters don't have time for cats.)

[thesewordselope.livejournal.com]

I didn't realize Michelle Rodriguez was out.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

She isn't that I know of - I was linking her name to Kristanna Loken's because Kristanna is out and they were having an affair. She's in "not denying it" land.

[isilya]

Heather Matarazzo (26) is definitely out, and I've always enjoyed her work. She's actually engaged to a Caroline Murphy, and there are tons of cute pics of them holding hands, etc.

Jorja Fox has a girlfriend, but has never given an interview about her sexuality -- which seems to be the most popular way of coming out. Kirsten Vangsness dropped that mention of having a girlfriend into her blog. Saffron Burrows and Sarah Paulson just show up at events with their older, serious theatre girlfriends.

There are a lot more out musicians than actors -- Tegan and Sara, Missy Higgins (only 25 and probably the most famous singer/songwriter in Australia at the moment).

Of course, the execrable Tila Tequila is famously bisexual, and the whole point of her MTV show "A Shot At Love with Tila Tequila" is that there were male and female contestants vying for her affections.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

I knew about Jorja, but she's not really my generation and I wasn't including that type of "out" as... out-ness: I mean, that's the boat that Queen Latifah and Jodie Foster are in, the not-squashing-rumours boat, the taking-her-as-a-date-to-events boat. Perhaps I should. Kirsten is definitely out. Perhaps she counts as my generation. At least she can't be much older than Wax: she just LOOKS like a real adult.

[isilya]

Ellen Page probably belongs to the Jodie Foster school also -- time will tell, I suppose. And she's quite a bit younger than us.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. I love her! I hadn't heard anything about her... sexuality or dates or anything.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

Although, honestly, I am pleased by Jodie and Latifah taking their partners to the red carpet and thanking them at awards shows. Not everyone wants to give an interview on Ellen or TheAdvocate.com, and I don't blame them. I guess they're out in a manner of speaking, just... trying REALLY hard to avoid tabloid publicity.

[isilya]

I've lurked around AfterEllen.com for years, because their slogan is "Because visibility matters", which I wholeheartedly agree with. I guess it's also refreshing to shake off the dirty feeling I get from the white male fixation of fandom.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Yeah, I have that same dirty feeling. Especially recently, it's been getting worse. I might need to retreat and... read books about women. (Since there are no tv shows about us. I refuse to watch The L-Word again. Or The Gilmore Girls. Or Grey's Anatomy. OK, maybe it's just that there are no shows about women that I LIKE.)

[isilya]

I just found out Jasika Nicole who plays Astrid Farnsworth, the cute assistant in Fringe, is a 28 yr old out lesbian!

Link

[cimness.livejournal.com]

Oh, thanks! I hadn't run across her before.

[isilya]

Isn't she gorgeous? I really enjoyed her interview and hope that more young lesbians continue to be able to say "there wasn't even any real thought as to whether I would lie or not". All kudos to the loud, courageous lesbians of the past who did the heavy lifting and enabled this environment. I hope that as more young lesbians feel comfortable enough in their identities to be out, they will create precedent and make it even easier for those who follow.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

Yes. It makes so much difference knowing of other lesbians who are out, even in my own mind and personal decisions about coming out. (It doesn't come up often when you socialise as infrequently as me, but it does come up.)

[nicocoer.livejournal.com]

Wanda Sykes officially came out durring the Prop 8 campaigns? she married her girlfriend in October, before prop 8 passed.
http://lesbianlife.about.com/od/lesbianactors/p/WandaSykes.htm

[cimness.livejournal.com]

I don't know who she is, but it's nice that she's out there!

[kmazzy.livejournal.com]

i thought Kristanna Loken was married to a bloke?

i wiiiiiiiish Alice HAD kissed Rain in Resident Evil. *sighs*

[cimness.livejournal.com]

I don't think that she is currently married to a dude. At least, at the time when she came out and hinted (but did not exactly come out) about her affair with Michelle (several years ago), she wasn't.

[elfiepike.livejournal.com]

i cannot agree more. not surprisingly, you find more lesbian actresses associated with the L word than with anything else that's actually somewhat well-known, but that--from what i understand--isn't really our generation. megan fox from the transformers movies is the closest thing to a queer-leaning Movie Star that i can think of without googling anything, and that's.... pretty sad.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

Jodie Foster! Not our generation and not actually out, but I'd say she is actually closest. I didn't know that Megan was "queer-leaning" - define? Is that like Katy Perry she-kissed-a-girl or actually queer in some real way?

[elfiepike.livejournal.com]

haha, well if it's not our generation-ish, i can think of a few more. XD (jane lynch! ♥!)

megan fox--she identifies as straight, but i would tentatively put her in the queer-leaning category because she talks about how she had a hardcore crush on a stripper when she was 18 and went out of her way to have a relationship with her. also: "Look, I'm not a lesbian. I just think that all humans are born with the ability to be attracted to both sexes. I mean, I could see myself in a relationship with a girl - Olivia Wilde is so sexy she makes me want to strangle a mountain ox with my bare hands. She's mesmerizing. And lately I've been obsessed with Jenna Jameson, but... oh boy."

ahahahhahahhahaha. XD so, okay, she's not really queer-leaning but i also find the idea of her with a lady incredibly attractive to think about. :D

[cimness.livejournal.com]

Well, she's kind of right. I mean, some Science has indicated that maybe all women are wired with Potential Bisexuality! But it's awesome that she says so. MMMMMMmOliviaWilde.