Lesbians We Admire

In light of the recent elections effectively banning gay marriage in FL, CA and AZ, I want to offer some hope. There are many GLBT who are doing wonderful things for the community and for the country. I want to focus on lesbians who are paving the way for others. For some of you this may be new news, to some old news, but I hope it serves to inspire us all. In the words of Jessie Jackson, “keep hope alive”!

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November 14, 2008:
Dr. Rachel Maddow
MSNBC and Air America Talk Show Host and Political Analyst

Here is the bottom line about Rachel Maddow. I love her! I think she is smart, well-spoken, funny and thoughtful. Rachel is on each day on MSNBC as host of her own show, both on the radio and on the tube. The show is appropriately titled “The Rachel Maddow Show”.

Rachel is the first out lesbian to have her own primetime show, and she gets more viewers than Larry King. Perhaps, it is because she is a lot easier on the eyes…or perhaps it’s because she is sharp as a tack and doesn’t back away from her fight. I love her style, her thoughtful commentary and her way of infusing humor that really makes you think. Just 6 years old than me, I definitely want to be like Rachel when I grow up. She is happily partnered to the love of her life for over 10 years (amazing). They split their time between their NY apartment and home in Mass. Rachel teases that she dresses like a first-grader when off the air…and she really does! But Rachel is a keeper and I certainly hope to see much more of her in the years to come!

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November 7, 2008:
E. Denise Simmons – America’s First Black Openly Lesbian Mayor

By: by Alison Lapp – Passport Magazine

On January 14, 2008 Simmons was elected the nation’s first black, openly lesbian mayor. She says being “in” with a higher-than-average number of social groups helped her get started in politics, and it continues to aid her in a public office where connecting with widely varied constituents is key.

“By being a member of a diverse number of communities, I am them and they are me,” Simmons says. “I am serving as a woman, as a lesbian, as a parent, as a business woman. I remember being a young mother applying for housing, and watching the owner walk by me when he realized who I was. I’ve been through all that, and I know what it was like.”

A political pioneer in a town that has had only three female mayors before her, Simmons was subjected to an onslaught of media attention when elected to Cambridge’s top post. She had accumulated more than a quarter-century of personal and public experience before that, however, and boasts that she brought it all with her.

View complete story here: http://www.passportmagazine.com/businessclass/EDeniseSimmons.php