OREGON'S LGBTO NEWSMAGAZINE
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Every Day Is Coming Out Day
The day after Jane Lynch hosted the Emmy
Awards, one o f People.coin’s top stories was
Rosie O ’Donnell and her new girlfriend mak
ing their red carpet debut. T ie September is
sue o f Vogue featured an article about “green”
weddings with models Julia Nobis and Kate
King posing as the betrothed couple, and
Kevin Keller, a gay character in the Archie
comics, is getting his very own comic book.
Gays are rejoining the military, being paired
on Millionaire Matchmaker and Chaz Bono is
dancing with the stars.
It’s ubiquitous; the gays have gone mainstream.
As a latcbian, I’ve only been “out”and part of
the queer community for seven years. In that
time, I’ve seen a significant shift in not only ac
ceptance but also a “W ho cares?” attitude about
sexuality, especially in the media. I suppose it’s
easy to think that I wasn’t as aware of gay issues
before I was gay, but I believe that although it
didn’t happen overnight, there has indeed been
a difference over the past few years.
It’s easy to identify some of the catalysts of
this change and exciting to think that it’s only
the beginning of what could be the total as
similation of gays into mainstream media. I’m
not suggesting this will cause a “doing away”
o f gay websites and publications such as this
one, but rather a blending of our queer com
munity into the larger culture.
living out loud
BY KATHRYN MARTINI
In order for us to be treated equally in
our culture, there must be less con
cern with our differences.
At one time, a lesbian who decided to come
out in the media risked career suicide. Now we
can find something gay related in the main
stream every day and an actress’ sexual orienta
tion is much less relevant. There’s less focus on
“lesbian celebrities” and more on celebrities
who happen to be lesbians.
Trish Bendix is the managing editor for
M T V and Logo’s AfterEllen.com . She and
her wife Julie recently moved to Portland
after spending 10 years in Chicago. It's
Trish’s job to cover lesbians in the media and
pop culture, and she loves that mainstream
society seems to care a bit less about a wom
an’s sexuality.
“W hen Rosie’s love life is speculated about
just as much as George Clooney’s, I think it’s
a step forward,” she says. Although she realizes
that many gay celebrities don’t want to be tab
loid fodder, she finds a bizarre sort of equality
when out celebrities are treated exactly the
same as straight ones: “It’s normalizing when
we get to see an aspect of ourselves in pop cul
ture," she says. "It’s validating.”
Bendix believes that factors driving this
change include Prop 8 and the recent rash of
teen suicides— events that have compelled
public figures to stand up for their beliefs.
“Terrible things have given rise to some great
things,” she says. It’s true that the fight for
marriage equality has thrust gay issues into the
media spotlight over the years. Publications
like People magazine featuring the wedding of
Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi on their
covers proved a huge game changer. Bendix
notes that it was probably many people’s first
look inside a lesbian wedding. “And wow! It
doesn’t look so different, does it?” she adds.
As the general population begins to see that
the sky won't come tumbling down because
queers can—and do— serve openly in the mili
tary, get legally married and dance on prime
time television, we’ll begin to see further ac
ceptance of all people, regardless of sexual or
gender identity.
All of this attention on gay issues starts to
desensitize people to the fact they are “gay”
issues but rather lays them bare, as they truly
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are: societal issues. In order for us to be treat
ed equally in our culture, there must be less
concern with our differences. Much o f this is
dependent on a positive focus on queer celeb
rities and non-stereotypically gay characters
on television (and, apparently, comic books).
W hen gay characters and gay actors can kiss
on film and it’s not noteworthy, we will have
reached a new critical mass. Positive queer
role models in the media make it easier for
other people to come out, especially young
people so heavily influenced by what they see
in magazines and on screens big and small.
T ie one area in which we’re not seeing more
out figures is sports. Last year, Portland Month
ly profiled Portland State University's Sherri
Murrell as the only openly gay coach in wom
en’s college basketball. Bendix feels that female
athletes not speaking about their sexuality is a
continuing problem in the field. “The only way
to change is to be the change,” she adds.
Still, Bendix has great hope for the future.
“Anytime a public person is openly out and says,
‘I’m a lesbian,’it makes my job easier,” she notes.
“It gets easier to be gayer every day.” if!
Trish Bendixs column, “Morning Brew, ” can he
read on afterellen.com. Kathryn M artini is a
Portlandfreelance writer, blogger and columnist.
Reach her at kathrynmartini.com.
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OCTOBER 7. 2011
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