GIGI QUEEN-OF-CONSENT GHORBANI
She’s so sexy omfg 😭
“I can’t even say the word. Why can’t I say the word? I mean, why can’t I just say…? I mean, what is wrong? Why do I have to be so ashamed? I mean, why can’t I just say the truth? I mean, be who I am? I’m thirty-five years old, I’m so afraid to tell people…Susan, I’m gay.” – Ellen Morgan (@theellenshow) to Susan (@lauradern), “Ellen,” “The Puppy Episode,” April 30, 1997. . On April 30, 1997, twenty years ago today and two weeks after Ellen DeGeneres publicly acknowledged her sexuality, Ellen Morgan, lead character of ABC’s “Ellen,” came out. . After the first three seasons of “Ellen,” producers were frustrated with a lack of focus and Ellen’s lack of interest in the stereotypical sitcom relationship; one producer suggested Ellen just get a puppy to show the world that a relationship was not in the cards, hence “The Puppy Episode.” . During the fourth season, as word of the coming out episode spread, a backlash started; a bomb threat came, DeGeneres’ safety was threatened, sponsors (including J.C. Penney and Wendy’s) pulled out, affiliates refused to run the episode, and right-wing conservatives hurled anti-gay slurs (Reverend Jerry Falwell, for example, hurled the infamous “Ellen Degenerate,” to which DeGeneres responded, “I’ve been getting that since the fourth grade”). . And, even after “The Puppy Episode” drew forty-two million viewers and won two Emmys, a Peabody Award, and a GLAAD Media Award, ABC still prefaced each subsequent episode of "Ellen” with a parental advisory warning. . The show was canceled after its fifth season. . “It’s easy to forget now, when we’ve come so far,” President Barack Obama said when awarding DeGeneres the Presidential Medal of Freedom, “just how much courage was required for Ellen to come out…What an incredible burden that was to bear. To risk your career like that. People don’t do that very often.” . There is no question that Ellen Morgan’s self-declaration marked a paradigm shift for queer representation in media. Never again would it be impossible to imagine a gay lead character, nor a supporting character that defied rigid stereotypes, in mainstream media. #lgbthistory #HavePrideInHistory #ThankYouEllen
“YEP, I’M GAY,” Ellen DeGeneres, Time, April 14, 1997. . On April 14, 1997, twenty years ago today and a few weeks before her sitcom-alter-ego, Ellen Morgan, came out on national television, Ellen DeGeneres put to rest years of speculation by officially coming out in Time’s cover story. . Despite not knowing what would come from her decision, DeGeneres was at ease: “For me,” she said, “this has been the most freeing experience because people can’t hurt me anymore. I don’t have to worry about somebody saying something about me, or a reporter trying to find out information. Literally, as soon as I made this decision, I lost weight. My skin cleared up. I don’t have anything to be scared of, which I think outweighs whatever else happens in my career.” . After Ellen Morgan came out, DeGeneres’ show, and her career as a whole, suffered for years, as did the careers of many people associated with the coming-out show; nonetheless, before, during, and after her subsequent comeback, Ellen remained one of the gay community’s loudest and proudest voices. . “It’s easy to forget now, when we’ve come so far,” President Barack Obama said of DeGeneres as he awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016, “… just how much courage was required for Ellen to come out on the most public of stages…Just how important it was not just to the LGBT community, but for all of us to see somebody so full of kindness and light, somebody we liked so much, somebody who could be our neighbor or our colleague or our sister challenge our own assumptions, remind us that we have more in common than we realize, push our country in the direction of justice…What an incredible burden that was to bear. To risk your career like that. People don’t do that very often. And then to have the hopes of millions on your shoulders…And she did pay a price – we don’t remember this. I hadn’t remembered it. She did, for a pretty long stretch of time…And yet, today, every day, in every way, Ellen counters what too often divides us with the countless things that bind us together – inspires us to be better, one joke, one dance at a time.” #lgbthistory #HavePrideInHistory #EllenDeGeneres
When one of the biggest movie stars of the last 10 years refers to herself as “so gay” on one of the most-watched late-night television shows on the air, it forces people to reconfigure how they think about what it means to be “gay” and who and what that term includes. Suddenly, anyone who only knew Stewart as “that girl from ‘Twilight’” and “Robert Pattinson’s ex girlfriend,” is confronted by her sexuality in a new and startling way, and it upends assumptions about the community, which is exactly why coming out is still so crucial.
Kristen Stewart Called Herself ‘So Gay’ On ‘SNL.’ Here’s Why It Matters. | Noah Michelson for the Huffington Post (via gaywrites)
Kristen Stewart handed in THE strongest hosting job on Saturday Night Live for the season — scratch that, for about the last five seasons. In her monologue she addressed those times Donald Trump tweeted about her and then accidentally dropped an f-bomb on live TV in true dangerous queer lady style.
Gifs: Saturday Night Live
(Also, this quote is the ideal response to just about everything so we isolated it for your repeated viewing pleasure)
Phyllis Lyon & Del Martin (May 5, 1921 - August 27, 2008), the mothers of America’s lesbian rights movement, had the distinction of being the first same-sex couple to marry in San Francisco on two separate occasions. Lyon and Martin first married on February 12, 2004 (pictured), after then-Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered the City Clerk to provide marriage licenses to same-sex couples; that marriage, along with approximately four thousand others, was voided by the California Supreme Court in August 2004. In response, Lyon said, “Del is 83 years old and I am 79. After being together for more than 50 years, it is a terrible blow to have the rights and protections of marriage taken away from us. At our age, we do not have the luxury of time.” On June 16, 2008, eight years ago today, the couple again became the first to wed in San Francisco after the state Supreme Court’s decision in In re Marriage Cases brought marriage equality briefly to California (same-sex marriage was suspended between November 2008 and June 2013, due to Proposition 8). Del Martin died on August 27, 2008; she was eighty-seven. Picture: Martin & Lyon, San Francisco, California, February 12, 2004. Photo by Liz Mangelsdorf, @sfchronicle. #lgbthistory #lgbtherstory #lgbttheirstory #lgbtpride #queerhistorymatters #haveprideinhistory (at San Francisco, California)
Celebrating five years of marriage today (together 13 yrs)! Still going strong. ❤️
Join in on the fun with @hersocialapp this Saturday in NYC for the MixHER event. There will be over 150 queer women to meet up with for a great evening in the city. Whether you're looking for love or looking for friends and a good time, we've been to an NYC HER event before and can personally attest to them being a BLAST! Grab a free greeting card from us while you’re there. ;)
With the hashtag #GiveElsaAGirlfriend, Twitter users are campaigning for Frozen 2 to declare Elsa the first openly LGBT Disney princess. Sign me up. (via the Independent)
Tara and Denise from The Walking Dead—our last lesbian couple for our first In Memoriam series. Follow us and leave a request for a specific couple in the comments! jcaress.com