Julie Cypher, born August 24, 1964 in Wichita, Kansas

Wichita, Kansas

Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...

, is best known as the former partner of Melissa Etheridge

Melissa Etheridge

Melissa Lou Etheridge is an American rock singer-songwriter and musician.Etheridge is known for her mixture of confessional lyrics, pop-based folk-rock, and raspy, smoky vocals...

.

Cypher attended the University of Texas at Austin

University of Texas at Austin

The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...

. She married actor Lou Diamond Phillips

Lou Diamond Phillips

Lou Diamond Phillips is an American film, television, and stage actor and director. His breakthrough came when he starred in the film La Bamba. He earned a supporting actor Golden Globe Award nomination for his role in Stand and Deliver and a Tony Award nomination for his role in The King and I...

 in 1986. In 1988, Cypher met Etheridge while assisting on the music video for the song, "Bring Me Some Water

Bring Me Some Water

- Song information :Melissa Etheridge wrote the song after the initial version of her debut album was rejected by the recording company, which left her only four days to provide new material and a modified edition of the album...

" and split with Phillips in 1990 to embark on a relationship with Etheridge. Tony van den Ende directed the music video for "Bring me Some Water".

In 1995 she directed Teresa's Tattoo

Teresa's Tattoo

Teresa's Tattoo is a 1994 action–comedy–crime film directed by Julie Cypher and John E. Vohlers. The film is also known as Natural Selection. The film stars C. Thomas Howell, Lou Diamond Phillips, Melissa Etheridge, who also performed songs for the film, K.D. Lang, and Kiefer Sutherland...

. The film stars C. Thomas Howell

C. Thomas Howell

Christopher Thomas "Tommy" Howell , known by his stage name C. Thomas Howell, is an American actor and film director. He starred in the films The Outsiders as Ponyboy Curtis and in The Hitcher as Jim Halsey. He has appeared in The Da Vinci Treasure,Soul Man, Red Dawn, Secret Admirer, Gettysburg, H. G...

, Lou Diamond Phillips

Lou Diamond Phillips

Lou Diamond Phillips is an American film, television, and stage actor and director. His breakthrough came when he starred in the film La Bamba. He earned a supporting actor Golden Globe Award nomination for his role in Stand and Deliver and a Tony Award nomination for his role in The King and I...

, Melissa Etheridge

Melissa Etheridge

Melissa Lou Etheridge is an American rock singer-songwriter and musician.Etheridge is known for her mixture of confessional lyrics, pop-based folk-rock, and raspy, smoky vocals...

, k.d. lang

K.D. Lang

Kathryn Dawn Lang, OC , known by her stage name k.d. lang, is a Canadian pop and country singer-songwriter and occasional actress...

, and Kiefer Sutherland

Kiefer Sutherland

Kiefer Sutherland is an English-born Canadian actor, producer and director, best known for his portrayal of Jack Bauer on the Fox thriller drama series 24 for which he has won an Emmy Award , a Golden Globe award , two Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Satellite...

.

Famous for being one half of one of the first publicly lesbian celebrity couples, Cypher advocated for gay rights. In 1995 she and Etheridge appeared in a "We'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" poster campaign for PETA

Peta

Peta can refer to:* peta-, an SI prefix denoting a factor of 1015* Peta, Greece, a town in Greece* Peta, the Pāli word for a Preta, or hungry ghost in Buddhism* Peta Wilson, an Australian actress and model* Peta Todd, English glamour model...

.
During her partnership with Melissa Etheridge, she gave birth to two children, a daughter, Bailey Jean, born in February 1997, and a son, Beckett, born November 1998. Although initially reluctant to discuss it, the couple eventually revealed that the father of both children was friend and rock music

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

ian David Crosby

David Crosby

David Van Cortlandt Crosby is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of three bands: The Byrds, Crosby, Stills & Nash , and CPR...

. In September 2000, she and Etheridge separated, after Cypher again had begun to question her sexuality,.

Cypher has an older sister, Melanie. She is the youngest of the two daughters of Dick and Betty Cypher.

Cypher married Matthew Hale in 2004. She returned to school to study psychotherapy and now runs a yoga therapy program in Los Angeles.

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