Lez go to the Oscars

Although we’re not the Oscar party types, Trillian and I tend to tune in to at least part of each ceremony. This year, we made a point of it though, since we’re such big fans of Ellen Degeneres. We stayed up to the very end—with an hour out in the middle to watch Battlestar Galactica. (Hey, we’re Ellen fans, but we’re even bigger sci-fi nerds.) Ellen was very much as I would have expected, employing her usual gentle, self-effacing humor.

But what I wasn’t quite expecting was the lesbian-fest that the entire ceremony was. This started to become apparent as the celebrities were shown arriving. There was Portia de Rossi, Ellen’s girlfriend, walking the carpet alone since her date was otherwise occupied. Later shots during the ceremony showed her sitting next to Ellen’s mom (Betty Degeneres, an amazing ally to the community). Then came Jodie Foster. OK, she’s technically not out, but it’s not exactly a secret that she has a female partner. And she was looking very buff—Trillian informs me it’s for an action film she just did. Finally we had Melissa Etheridge (who looks great after beating breast cancer) and Tammy Lynn Michaels (who just had twins in mid-October!!). For pix and a little more, check out AfterEllen.

Melissa Etheridge provided the lesbian highlight of the evening. When her name was announced for “Best Song,” she got up, gave Tammy Lynn a kiss on the lips and then started her acceptance speech by thanking “my incredible wife Tammy and our four children.” Apparently she and Tammy had discussed the kiss, in the event of a win, before the Oscars. And although she didn’t necessarily want to make a statement, she went with the kiss because, “because that’s what you do, you kiss your loved one when you win an Oscar, that’s what I grew up believing.” I was so happy to see the genuine—and really quite ordinary—display of love. So straightforward. So true.

Not that I expect any of this to change the world, but maybe a little step towards convincing people we’re not so scary.