Media portrayal of lesbianism
Encyclopedia
Lesbian
s often attract media attention, particularly in relation to feminism
, love and sexual relationships, marriage
and parent
ing. Some writers have asserted this trend can lead to exploitative and unjustified plot devices.
and Barbara Hammer
were noted in the US avant-garde
art movements, along with figures such as Leontine Sagan in German
pre-war cinema. Since the 1890s the underground classic The Songs of Bilitis has been influential on lesbian culture. This book provided a name for the first campaigning and cultural organization in the United States, the Daughters of Bilitis
. Joseph Sheridan le Fanu
's 1872 novella
Carmilla
is cited as a root of the lesbian vampire
trope
about the predatory love of a vampire (the title character) for a young woman (the narrator) which was picked up in 20th century exploitation film
s.
During the 1950s and 1960s lesbian pulp fiction was published in the US and UK, often under "coded" titles such as Odd Girl Out
, The Evil Friendship by Vin Packer and The Beebo Brinker Chronicles by Ann Bannon
. British school stories also provided a haven for "coded" and sometimes outright lesbian fiction
.
this awesome time started during the 1970s the second wave of feminist-era lesbian novels became more politically oriented. Works often carried the explicit ideological messages of separatist feminism
and the trend carried over to other lesbian arts. Rita Mae Brown
's debut novel Rubyfruit Jungle
was a milestone of this period; Patience and Sarah
, by Isabel Miller, became a cult favorite. By the early 1990s lesbian culture was being influenced by a younger generation who had not taken part in the "Feminist Sex Wars
" and this strongly informed post-feminist queer theory
along with the new queer culture.
In 1972 the Berkeley, California
lesbian journal Libera published a paper entitled '"Heterosexuality in Women: its Causes and Cure." Written in deadpan, academic prose, closely paralleling previous psychiatry-journal articles on homosexuality among women, this paper inverted prevailing assumptions about what is normal and deviant or pathological. The paper was widely read by lesbian feminists. The journal is no longer published, and the article is nearly impossible to find: a Google search on the title typically yields Albert Ellis's article "Homosexuality in Women: its Causes and Cure," which was published before 1972, and before the American Psychiatric Association
decided that homosexuality was no longer a mental disorder.
Paintings showing two or more females together seldom displayed much in the way of potential sexual activity between them. When it came to nudity, most women subjects were depicted as dancers or bathers, usually stated as goddesses.
Two that do stand out include Gustave Courbet
's Sleep which openly depicts two women asleep after love-making (indicated by the broken pearl necklace); and Dominique Ingres
' Turkish Bath in which, in the foreground, one woman can be seen with an arm around another and pinching her breast. Both these paintings ended up in the collection of erotica collector and diplomat Khalil Bey
, but are now exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
and the Louvre
, respectively.
's Lulu
is one exception, but Charles Gounod
's Sapho
portrays the poetess as straight. Patience and Sarah
, based on the Isabel Miller novel, has been described as the first lesbian opera.
and directed by Leontine Sagan
, tracing the story of a schoolgirl called Manuela von Meinhardis and her passionate love for a teacher, Fräulein von Nordeck zur Nidden. It was written and mostly directed by women. The impact of the film in Germany's lesbian clubs was overshadowed, however, by the cult following for The Blue Angel (1930).
Until the early 1990s, any notion of lesbian love in a film almost always required audiences to infer the relationships. The lesbian aesthetic of Queen Christina
(1933) with Greta Garbo has been widely noted, even though the film is not about lesbians. Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca (1940), based on the novel by Daphne du Maurier
, referred more or less overtly to lesbianism, but the two characters involved were not presented positively: Mrs. Danvers was portrayed as obsessed, neurotic and murderous, while the never-seen Rebecca was described as having been selfish, spiteful and doomed to die. All About Eve
(1950) was originally written with the title character as a lesbian but this was very subtle in the final version, with the hint and message apparent to alert viewers.
Playwright Lillian Hellman
's first play, The Children's Hour
(1934) was produced on Broadway. Set in a private girls' boarding school, the headmistress and a teacher are the targets of a malicious whispering campaign of insinuation by a disgruntled schoolgirl. They soon face public accusations of having a lesbian relationship.
The play was nominated for a Pulitzer prize, banned in Boston
, London
, and Chicago
and had a record-breaking run of 691 consecutive performances in New York
. A 1961 screen adaptation starred Audrey Hepburn
and Shirley MacLaine
. The play's deep and pervasively dark themes and lesbian undertones have been widely noted.
Mainstream films with openly lesbian content, sympathetic lesbian characters and lesbian leads began appearing during the 1990s. By 2000 some films portrayed characters exploring issues beyond their sexual orientation, reflecting a wider sense that lesbianism has to do with more than sexual desire.
Speaking at the Bombay Academy of Moving Images, Nisha Ganatra
revealed that Bend It Like Beckham
was originally intended to have a more overt lesbian theme by Gurinder Chadha
.
Notably, Gurinder Chadha previously directed the film What's Cooking, which featured Julianna Margulies
and Kyra Sedgwick
as a lesbian couple. Chadha is claimed to have softened the lesbian angle, to a case of "crossed wires" and jokes like "Lesbian? Her birthday's in March. I thought she was a Pisces," to make the film more marketable - something which has not gone down well with all gay reviewers. However, Jess' male friend Tony was retained as a sympathetic gay character. Bend it like Beckham also won an award for "Outstanding Film" from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
Notable mainstream theatrical releases included Bound
(1996), Chasing Amy
(1997), Wild Things
(1998), Kissing Jessica Stein
(2001), Lost and Delirious
(2001), Mulholland Drive
, Monster (2003), D.E.B.S (2004), Rent
(2005, based on the Jonathan Larson musical
), My Summer of Love
(2004), Loving Annabelle
(2006) and Imagine Me & You
(2005). There have also been many non-English language lesbian films, such as Fire (India, 1996), Show Me Love (Sweden, 1998), Aimée & Jaguar
(Germany, 1999), Blue
(Japan, 2001), The Mars Canon
(Japan, 2002), Blue Gate Crossing
(Taiwan, 2004), Butterfly
(Hong Kong, 2004), Love My Life
(Japan, 2006) and Les filles du botaniste
(France/Canada, 2006).
entitled "The Brass Button". The character, Jeanette Morgan, is the episode's murder victim. She is described as "not interested in men" and "living that strange and unnatural kind of way". Jeanette is murdered by a soldier who, having heard gossip about her, makes sexual advances. When she rejects him, he strangles her to death.
Early American television largely ignored lesbians. Homosexuality was not discussed on television until the mid-1950s, and when it was discussed — usually on local talk shows — it was almost uniformly male homosexuality under discussion. It was not until 1962, when an episode of Confidential File covered the 1962 convention of the Daughters of Bilitis
, that a national broadcast specifically covered lesbianism. Lesbians were explicitly excluded from the proposal for the country's first documentary broadcast on homosexuality, 1961's The Rejected
, and from the first network documentary on homosexuality, "The Homosexuals
", a 1967 installment of CBS Reports
. On scripted television, the earliest lesbian characters were "coded", like the villainous Miss Brant on The Asphalt Jungle (1961), a repressed lesbian who shoots girls on lovers' lane for making themselves available to boys, or neurotics like Hallie Lambert from a 1963 episode of The Eleventh Hour
. After years during which the only portrayals of lesbians on television were negative, stereotypical, or both, NBC aired "Flowers of Evil
" a 1974 episode of the series Police Woman
. In it a trio of lesbians (described by Lesbian Tide magazine as "The Butch, The Bitch and The Femme") were robbing and murdering the elderly residents of the nursing home they ran. Lesbian activists operating under the name Lesbian Feminist Liberation staged a zap
at NBC's New York City
headquarters. Ten women entered the building and occupied it overnight. Around 75 women demonstrated in front of the building. The following morning protesters unfurled a twenty foot long banner from the balcony of vice president Herminio Traviesas's office reading "LESBIANS PROTEST NBC". They and street-level picketers chanted slogans like "NBC works against lesbians" and "Lesbians are sitting in".
The 1980s television series L.A. Law
included a lesbian relationship which stirred much more controversy than lesbian TV characters would a decade later. The 1989 BBC
mini series Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
was based on lesbian writer Jeanette Winterson
's novel of the same title. Russian pop-duo t.A.T.u
were popular in Europe during the early 2000s, gaining wide attention and TV airplay for their pop video
s because they were marketed as lesbians even though they were not.
Many science fiction
series have featured lesbian characters. An episode of Babylon 5
featured an implied lesbian relationship between characters Talia Winters
and Commander Susan Ivanova
. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
featured a few episodes with elements of lesbianism that implied, but never stated, that in Star Trek's 24th century such relationships are accepted, even though the show never actually depicted one. Torchwood
's first series involved brief lesbian encounters for both Gwen Cooper
(Eve Myles
) and Toshiko Sato
(Naoko Mori
), but in each instance alien intervention was responsible. AfterEllen reviewer Karman Klegroe criticises Torchwood's record on this score concluding that: "sexual tension between the male characters, particularly Captain Jack and Ianto, is standard fare, whereas the women have very few sexual interactions that aren't quickly explained away by alien circumstances". In the fourth series, recurring character Charlotte Willis (Marina Benedict) was eventually revealed to be a lesbian.
Actress and comedian Ellen DeGeneres
came out publicly as a lesbian in 1997 and her character on the sitcom Ellen
did likewise soon after during its fourth season. This was the first American sitcom with a lesbian lead character. The coming-out episode
won an Emmy Award
, but the series was canceled after one more season.
The HBO series Deadwood
featured a lesbian madam running a local brothel.
In 2000, the ABC Daytime
drama series All My Children
character Bianca Montgomery
(Eden Riegel
) was revealed to be a lesbian. Though the storyline received significant praise from critics and viewers and spun two popular romances (Bianca Montgomery and Maggie Stone
, Lena Kundera and Bianca Montgomery
), it was also met with criticism for its almost perpetual trauma and Bianca's lack of a successful long-running romance with another woman. The character was later given a wife to combat this, in the pairing of Reese Williams and Bianca Montgomery
, which became the first legal same-sex marriage
in American daytime television, but this was also met with criticism; critics and fans reasoned that the storyline was underdeveloped and essentially failed in popularity.
Showtime's The L Word
is a drama focusing on the relationships of a group of women. The majority of the characters are bisexual and lesbian women, including: Dana Fairbanks, Alice Pieszecki
, Bette Porter
, Shane McCutcheon
, Tina Kennard
, Jodi Lerner, Helena Peabody, Phyllis Kroll, and Jenny Schecter
. The success of The L Word led to a reality television spinoff, The Real L Word
, which premiered in 2010.
In 2005, an episode of The Simpsons
("There's Something About Marrying
") depicted Marge's
sister Patty coming out as a lesbian. Also that year on Law & Order
the final appearance of assistant district attorney
Serena Southerlyn
included the revelation she was a lesbian, although some viewers claimed there had been hints of this in previous episodes.
Other notable lesbian characters and appearances in the mainstream media have included:
", a 1991 episode of the legal drama L.A. Law
.
's Terry and the Pirates
: one of the main villains, Sanjak, has been interpreted by some as a lesbian with designs on the hero's girlfriend, though this is not openly stated. Further, some writers and others (notably Chris Rock
on Saturday Night Live
) have commented that the Peanuts
character Peppermint Patty
is a lesbian (and inferred a relationship with her close friend Marcie
, although such an inference was never supported by the comic strip's content). (Peppermint Patties has been used as a pejorative slang word for lesbians.)
Until 1989 the Comics Code Authority
, which imposed de facto
censorship on comics sold through newsstands in the United States, forbade any suggestion of homosexuality. Overt lesbian themes were first found in underground and alternative
titles which did not carry the Authority's seal of approval. The first comic with an openly lesbian character was "Sandy Comes Out" by Trina Robbins
, published in the anthology Wimmen's Comix
#1 in 1972.
Gay Comix (1980) included stories by and about lesbians and by 1985 the influential alternative title Love and Rockets
had revealed a relationship between two major characters, Maggie and Hopey.
Meanwhile mainstream publishers were more reticent. A relationship between the female Marvel Comics
characters Mystique
and Destiny
was only implied at first, then cryptically confirmed in 1990 through the use of the archaic word leman, meaning a lover or sweetheart. Only in 2001 was Destiny referred to in plain language as Mystique's lover. Previously, WildStorm
's Image Comics
had featured Sarah Rainmaker
of Gen¹³
as a character with an interest in other women, and had openly depicted homosexual relationships between the members of the Authority, such as Jenny Sparks
and Swift
.
In 2006 DC Comics
could still draw widespread media attention by announcing a new, lesbian incarnation of the well-known character Batwoman
even while openly lesbian characters such as Gotham City
police officer Renee Montoya
already existed in DC Comics.
In 2006, the graphic memoir
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
by Alison Bechdel
, was lauded by many media as among the best books of the year. Bechdel is the author of Dykes to Watch Out For
, one of the best-known and longest-running LGBT comic strips.
and anime
, lesbian content is called Girls Love (in Japan) or yuri. In the west, a distinction is occasionally made between yuri (more explicitly sex-based) and shōjo-ai (more romance-based), a term created in the west by analogy with shōnen-ai. Shōjo-ai is not used in that sense in Japan, where (as a manga term) it mainly denotes lolicon
.
The third season of the anime
series Sailor Moon
, Sailor Moon S, introduced Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, a lesbian couple. However, the season was heavily censored when dubbed and shown on TV in the United States. Many of the scenes which would suggest this particular relationship were cut away and the two characters were depicted as cousins (this led to further controversy as many fans noticed the editing). In many of the manga artist
group Clamp
's series such as Miyuki-chan in Wonderland
or Cardcaptor Sakura
, some characters are clearly lesbians. In Miyuki-chan in wonderland, for example, Miyuki is constantly trying to escape the attention of scantily-clad female admirers; while Tomoyo in CCS is famous for her ostensibly innocent but rather suspect obsession with playing "dress-up" with the lead character, Sakura.
(a PlayStation
title produced by Square
) has a lesbian character named Asellus. Another character named Gina is a young girl who tailors Asellus' outfits, often discusses her deep attraction to Asellus and becomes her bride in one of the game's many endings. However, much related dialogue and some content has been edited out of the English language version. The PlayStation title Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix
(a prequel to Fear Effect
) reveals that Hana Tsu Vachel, a main character in both games, had a sexual relationship with a female character named Rain Qin. Strawberry Panic!
is a mild Japanese lesbian game for PlayStation 2 featuring romance amongst a group of female students living in a common all-girls' boarding house atop Astrea Hill. Tristia of the Deep-Blue Sea
, Neosphere of the Deep-Blue Sky, Akai Ito
and Ayakashi Ninden Kunoichiban
, Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly
, Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl are widely known in Japan.
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
s often attract media attention, particularly in relation to feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
, love and sexual relationships, marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
and parent
Parent
A parent is a caretaker of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is of a child . Children can have one or more parents, but they must have two biological parents. Biological parents consist of the male who sired the child and the female who gave birth to the child...
ing. Some writers have asserted this trend can lead to exploitative and unjustified plot devices.
Fiction
During the twentieth century lesbians such as Gertrude SteinGertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein was an American writer, poet and art collector who spent most of her life in France.-Early life:...
and Barbara Hammer
Barbara Hammer
Barbara Hammer is an American filmmaker in the genre of experimental films and a professor at European Graduate School in Saas-Fee.-Biography:...
were noted in the US avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
art movements, along with figures such as Leontine Sagan in German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
pre-war cinema. Since the 1890s the underground classic The Songs of Bilitis has been influential on lesbian culture. This book provided a name for the first campaigning and cultural organization in the United States, the Daughters of Bilitis
Daughters of Bilitis
The Daughters of Bilitis , was the first lesbian rights organization in the United States. It was formed in San Francisco in 1955, conceived as a social alternative to lesbian bars, which were considered illegal and thus subject to raids and police harassment...
. Joseph Sheridan le Fanu
Sheridan Le Fanu
Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu was an Irish writer of Gothic tales and mystery novels. He was the leading ghost-story writer of the nineteenth century and was central to the development of the genre in the Victorian era....
's 1872 novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
Carmilla
Carmilla
Carmilla is a Gothic novella by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. First published in 1872, it tells the story of a young woman's susceptibility to the attentions of a female vampire named Carmilla...
is cited as a root of the lesbian vampire
Lesbian vampire
Lesbian vampirism is a trope in 20th century exploitation film that has its roots in Joseph Sheridan le Fanu's novella Carmilla about the predatory love of a female vampire for a young woman :...
trope
Trope (literature)
A literary trope is the usage of figurative language in literature, or a figure of speech in which words are used in a sense different from their literal meaning...
about the predatory love of a vampire (the title character) for a young woman (the narrator) which was picked up in 20th century exploitation film
Exploitation film
Exploitation film is a type of film that is promoted by "exploiting" often lurid subject matter. The term "exploitation" is common in film marketing, used for all types of films to mean promotion or advertising. These films then need something to exploit, such as a big star, special effects, sex,...
s.
During the 1950s and 1960s lesbian pulp fiction was published in the US and UK, often under "coded" titles such as Odd Girl Out
Odd Girl Out (novel)
Odd Girl Out is a lesbian pulp fiction novel written in 1957 by Ann Bannon . It is the first in a series of pulp fiction novels that eventually came to be known as The Beebo Brinker Chronicles. It was originally published in 1957 by Gold Medal Books, again in 1983 by Naiad Press, and again in 2001...
, The Evil Friendship by Vin Packer and The Beebo Brinker Chronicles by Ann Bannon
Ann Bannon
Ann Bannon is an American author who, from 1957 to 1962, wrote six lesbian pulp fiction novels known as The Beebo Brinker Chronicles. The books' enduring popularity and impact on lesbian identity has earned her the title "Queen of Lesbian Pulp Fiction"...
. British school stories also provided a haven for "coded" and sometimes outright lesbian fiction
Lesbian fiction
Lesbian fiction is a subgenre of fiction that involves one or more primary female homosexual character and lesbian themes. Novels that fall into this category may be of any genres, such as, but not limited to, historical fiction, science fiction, fantasy, horror, and romance.-History:The first...
.
this awesome time started during the 1970s the second wave of feminist-era lesbian novels became more politically oriented. Works often carried the explicit ideological messages of separatist feminism
Separatist feminism
Separatist feminism is a form of radical feminism that holds that opposition to patriarchy is best done through focusing exclusively on women and girls...
and the trend carried over to other lesbian arts. Rita Mae Brown
Rita Mae Brown
Rita Mae Brown is an American writer. She is best known for her first novel Rubyfruit Jungle. Published in 1973, it dealt with lesbian themes in an explicit manner unusual for the time...
's debut novel Rubyfruit Jungle
Rubyfruit Jungle
Rubyfruit Jungle is the first novel by Rita Mae Brown, remarkable, in its day, for its explicit lesbianism. The novel is a bildungsroman/autobiographical account of Brown's youth and emergence as a lesbian author...
was a milestone of this period; Patience and Sarah
Patience and Sarah
Patience and Sarah is a 1969 historical fiction novel with strong lesbian themes by Alma Routsong, using the pen name Isabel Miller. It was originally self-published under the title A Place For Us and eventually found a publisher as Patience and Sarah in 1971.Routsong's novel is based on a...
, by Isabel Miller, became a cult favorite. By the early 1990s lesbian culture was being influenced by a younger generation who had not taken part in the "Feminist Sex Wars
Feminist Sex Wars
The Feminist Sex Wars and Lesbian Sex Wars, or simply the Sex Wars or Porn Wars, were the acrimonious debates within the feminist movement and lesbian community in the late 1970s through the 1980s around the issues of feminist strategies regarding sexuality, sexual representation, pornography,...
" and this strongly informed post-feminist queer theory
Queer
Queer is an umbrella term for sexual minorities that are not heterosexual, heteronormative, or gender-binary. In the context of Western identity politics the term also acts as a label setting queer-identifying people apart from discourse, ideologies, and lifestyles that typify mainstream LGBT ...
along with the new queer culture.
In 1972 the Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
lesbian journal Libera published a paper entitled '"Heterosexuality in Women: its Causes and Cure." Written in deadpan, academic prose, closely paralleling previous psychiatry-journal articles on homosexuality among women, this paper inverted prevailing assumptions about what is normal and deviant or pathological. The paper was widely read by lesbian feminists. The journal is no longer published, and the article is nearly impossible to find: a Google search on the title typically yields Albert Ellis's article "Homosexuality in Women: its Causes and Cure," which was published before 1972, and before the American Psychiatric Association
American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the most influential worldwide. Its some 38,000 members are mainly American but some are international...
decided that homosexuality was no longer a mental disorder.
Art
- See also Lesbianism in eroticaLesbianism in eroticaDepiction of lesbianism has been a relatively common theme in erotic art and pornography throughout history. Studies indicate that heterosexual men were more aroused by depictions involving lesbian sex than they are by depictions of heterosexual activity, while heterosexual and lesbian women were...
, :Category:Lesbian artists
Paintings showing two or more females together seldom displayed much in the way of potential sexual activity between them. When it came to nudity, most women subjects were depicted as dancers or bathers, usually stated as goddesses.
Two that do stand out include Gustave Courbet
Gustave Courbet
Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet was a French painter who led the Realist movement in 19th-century French painting. The Realist movement bridged the Romantic movement , with the Barbizon School and the Impressionists...
's Sleep which openly depicts two women asleep after love-making (indicated by the broken pearl necklace); and Dominique Ingres
Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres was a French Neoclassical painter. Although he considered himself to be a painter of history in the tradition of Nicolas Poussin and Jacques-Louis David, by the end of his life it was Ingres's portraits, both painted and drawn, that were recognized as his greatest...
' Turkish Bath in which, in the foreground, one woman can be seen with an arm around another and pinching her breast. Both these paintings ended up in the collection of erotica collector and diplomat Khalil Bey
Khalil Bey
Khalil Sherif Pasha was an Ottoman diplomat and art collector, whose collection was described by Théophile Gautier as "the first ever to be formed by a child of Islam"....
, but are now exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
and the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
, respectively.
Opera
Lesbian characters rarely appear in opera; Countess Geschwitz in Alban BergAlban Berg
Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...
's Lulu
Lulu (opera)
Lulu is an opera by the composer Alban Berg. The libretto was adapted by Berg himself from Frank Wedekind's plays Erdgeist and Die Büchse der Pandora .-Composition history:...
is one exception, but Charles Gounod
Charles Gounod
Charles-François Gounod was a French composer, known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.-Biography:...
's Sapho
Sapho (Gounod)
Sapho is a 3-act opera by Charles Gounod to a libretto by Émile Augier which was premiered by the Paris Opéra at the Salle Le Peletier on 16 April 1851. It was presented only 9 times in its initial production, but was a succès d'estime for the young composer, with the critics praising Act 3 in...
portrays the poetess as straight. Patience and Sarah
Patience and Sarah (opera)
Patience and Sarah is a 1998 opera by Paula M. Kimper. The libretto is by Wende Persons, based on the novel of the same name by Isabel Miller...
, based on the Isabel Miller novel, has been described as the first lesbian opera.
Cinema
The first lesbian-themed feature film was Mädchen in Uniform (1931), based on a novel by Christa WinsloeChrista Winsloe
Christa Winsloe was a 20th century German-Hungarian novelist, playwright and sculptor, best known for her play Gestern und heute, filmed in 1931 as Mädchen in Uniform and the 1958 remake.- Biography :...
and directed by Leontine Sagan
Leontine Sagan
Leontine Sagan was an Austrian actress and theatre director.Born in Budapest, Sagan trained with Max Reinhardt. The first and most widely known of her two films is Mädchen in Uniform...
, tracing the story of a schoolgirl called Manuela von Meinhardis and her passionate love for a teacher, Fräulein von Nordeck zur Nidden. It was written and mostly directed by women. The impact of the film in Germany's lesbian clubs was overshadowed, however, by the cult following for The Blue Angel (1930).
Until the early 1990s, any notion of lesbian love in a film almost always required audiences to infer the relationships. The lesbian aesthetic of Queen Christina
Queen Christina (film)
Queen Christina is a Pre-Code Hollywood feature film loosely based on the life of 17th century Queen Christina of Sweden, produced in 1933, directed by Rouben Mamoulian, starring Swedish-born actress Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Ian Keith and Lewis Stone. It was billed as Garbo's return to cinema...
(1933) with Greta Garbo has been widely noted, even though the film is not about lesbians. Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca (1940), based on the novel by Daphne du Maurier
Daphne du Maurier
Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning DBE was a British author and playwright.Many of her works have been adapted into films, including the novels Rebecca and Jamaica Inn and the short stories "The Birds" and "Don't Look Now". The first three were directed by Alfred Hitchcock.Her elder sister was...
, referred more or less overtly to lesbianism, but the two characters involved were not presented positively: Mrs. Danvers was portrayed as obsessed, neurotic and murderous, while the never-seen Rebecca was described as having been selfish, spiteful and doomed to die. All About Eve
All About Eve
All About Eve is a 1950 American drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, based on the 1946 short story "The Wisdom of Eve", by Mary Orr.The film stars Bette Davis as Margo Channing, a highly regarded but aging Broadway star...
(1950) was originally written with the title character as a lesbian but this was very subtle in the final version, with the hint and message apparent to alert viewers.
Playwright Lillian Hellman
Lillian Hellman
Lillian Florence "Lily" Hellman was an American playwright, linked throughout her life with many left-wing causes...
's first play, The Children's Hour
The Children's Hour (play)
The Children's Hour is a 1934 stage play written by Lillian Hellman. It is a drama set in an all-girls boarding school run by two women, Karen Wright and Martha Dobie. An angry student, Mary Tilford, runs away from the school and to avoid being sent back she tells her grandmother that the two...
(1934) was produced on Broadway. Set in a private girls' boarding school, the headmistress and a teacher are the targets of a malicious whispering campaign of insinuation by a disgruntled schoolgirl. They soon face public accusations of having a lesbian relationship.
The play was nominated for a Pulitzer prize, banned in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and had a record-breaking run of 691 consecutive performances in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. A 1961 screen adaptation starred Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn was a British actress and humanitarian. Although modest about her acting ability, Hepburn remains one of the world's most famous actresses of all time, remembered as a film and fashion icon of the twentieth century...
and Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...
. The play's deep and pervasively dark themes and lesbian undertones have been widely noted.
Mainstream films with openly lesbian content, sympathetic lesbian characters and lesbian leads began appearing during the 1990s. By 2000 some films portrayed characters exploring issues beyond their sexual orientation, reflecting a wider sense that lesbianism has to do with more than sexual desire.
Speaking at the Bombay Academy of Moving Images, Nisha Ganatra
Nisha Ganatra
Nisha Ganatra is a Canadian film director, film producer, writer and actor of Indian ancestry. She is most well known for her acclaimed films Chutney Popcorn and Cosmopolitan.-Biography:...
revealed that Bend It Like Beckham
Bend It Like Beckham
Bend It Like Beckham is a 2002 comedy-drama film starring Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Myers, Anupam Kher, Shaznay Lewis, and Archie Panjabi first released in the United Kingdom. The film was directed by Gurinder Chadha...
was originally intended to have a more overt lesbian theme by Gurinder Chadha
Gurinder Chadha
Gurinder Chadha , OBE, is a British film director of Indian origin. Most of her films explore the lives of Indians living in the United Kingdom. She is best known for the hit films Bhaji on the Beach , Bend It Like Beckham , Bride and Prejudice and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging...
.
Notably, Gurinder Chadha previously directed the film What's Cooking, which featured Julianna Margulies
Julianna Margulies
Julianna Luisa Margulies is an American actress and producer.After several small television roles, Margulies achieved success in her regular role as Nurse Carol Hathaway on NBC's long-running medical drama ER, for which she won an Emmy Award...
and Kyra Sedgwick
Kyra Sedgwick
Kyra Minturn Sedgwick is an American actress.Sedgwick is best known for her starring role as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson on the TNT crime drama The Closer. Sedgwick's role in the series won her a Golden Globe Award in 2007 and an Emmy Award in 2010...
as a lesbian couple. Chadha is claimed to have softened the lesbian angle, to a case of "crossed wires" and jokes like "Lesbian? Her birthday's in March. I thought she was a Pisces," to make the film more marketable - something which has not gone down well with all gay reviewers. However, Jess' male friend Tony was retained as a sympathetic gay character. Bend it like Beckham also won an award for "Outstanding Film" from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
Notable mainstream theatrical releases included Bound
Bound (film)
Bound is a 1996 neo-noir crime thriller film directed by the Wachowski brothers. Violet , who longs to escape her relationship with her mafioso boyfriend Caesar , enters into a clandestine affair with alluring ex-con Corky , and the two women hatch a scheme to steal $2 million of mafia money.Bound...
(1996), Chasing Amy
Chasing Amy
Chasing Amy is a 1997 romantic comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith. The central tension revolves around sexuality, sexual history, and evolving friendships. It is the third film in Smith's View Askewniverse series....
(1997), Wild Things
Wild Things
Wild Things is a 1998 erotic thriller film starring Matt Dillon, Neve Campbell, Kevin Bacon, Denise Richards, Theresa Russell and Bill Murray. It was directed by John McNaughton. In some countries the film was released as Sex Crimes...
(1998), Kissing Jessica Stein
Kissing Jessica Stein
Kissing Jessica Stein is a 2001 independent romantic comedy film, written and co-produced by the film's stars, Jennifer Westfeldt and Heather Juergensen. The film also stars Tovah Feldshuh and is directed by Charles Herman-Wurmfeld...
(2001), Lost and Delirious
Lost and Delirious
Lost and Delirious is a 2001 Canadian drama film directed by Léa Pool and loosely based on the novel The Wives of Bath by Susan Swan. Lost and Delirious is filmed from the perspective of Mary , who observes the changing love between her two teenage friends, Pauline and Victoria...
(2001), Mulholland Drive
Mulholland Drive (film)
Mulholland Drive is a 2001 American neo-noir psychological thriller written and directed by David Lynch, starring Justin Theroux, Naomi Watts, and Laura Harring. The surrealist film was highly acclaimed by many critics and earned Lynch the Prix de la mise en scène at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival...
, Monster (2003), D.E.B.S (2004), Rent
Rent (musical)
Rent is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème...
(2005, based on the Jonathan Larson musical
Rent (musical)
Rent is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème...
), My Summer of Love
My Summer of Love
My Summer of Love is a 2004 British drama film directed by Pawel Pawlikowski and co-written by Pawel Pawlikowski and Michael Wynne. Based on the novel of the same name by Helen Cross, the film explores the relationship between two young women from different classes and backgrounds...
(2004), Loving Annabelle
Loving Annabelle
Loving Annabelle is a 2006 film directed by Katherine Brooks. Based on Mädchen in Uniform, it tells the story of a boarding school student who falls in love with her teacher. It was filmed at Marymount High School in Los Angeles.-Plot:...
(2006) and Imagine Me & You
Imagine Me & You
Imagine Me & You is a 2005 British-American comedy-romance film written and directed by Ol Parker. It centres on the relationship between Rachel, played by Piper Perabo and Luce, played by Lena Headey, who meet on Rachel's wedding day. The movie takes its title from a line in the song "Happy...
(2005). There have also been many non-English language lesbian films, such as Fire (India, 1996), Show Me Love (Sweden, 1998), Aimée & Jaguar
Aimée & Jaguar
Aimée & Jaguar is a 1999 German drama film set in Berlin during World War II. It was written and directed by Max Färberböck, based upon Erica Fischer's book, chronicling the actual lives of Lilly Wust and Felice Schragenheim during that time period. The book was based on the work of the American...
(Germany, 1999), Blue
Blue (2001 film)
Blue is a Japanese romantic drama directed by Hiroshi Ando based on Blue by Kiriko Nananan. The film stars Mikako Ichikawa as Kayako Kirishima and Manami Konishi as Masami Endo...
(Japan, 2001), The Mars Canon
The Mars Canon
is a Japanese film made in 2002. Themes of the film include adultery and homosexuality, as Mars connotes both fighting and sexual intercourse.-Synopsis:...
(Japan, 2002), Blue Gate Crossing
Blue Gate Crossing
Blue Gate Crossing is a 2002 Taiwanese film by writer-director Yee Chin-yen. It was nominated for Best Asian Film at the 23rd Hong Kong Film Awards held in 2004.-Cast:* Bolin Chen as Zhāng Shì Háo * Kwai Lun-mei as Mèng kè róu...
(Taiwan, 2004), Butterfly
Butterfly (2004 film)
Butterfly is a 2004 Hong Kong film based on Taiwanese writer Xue Chen’s novel The Mark of Butterfly . The film was directed by female award-winning director Yan Yan Mak and produced by Jacqueline Liu and Yan Yan Mak with the sponsorship of Hong Kong Art Development Council.-Plot:The film follows...
(Hong Kong, 2004), Love My Life
Love My Life
is an internationally famous Japanese josei manga by Ebine Yamaji. It was originally serialized in the josei magazine Feel Young, and collected in a single tankōbon volume released in September 2001. The single volume has been translated into Mandarin and released by Taiwan Kadokawa and is...
(Japan, 2006) and Les filles du botaniste
Les Filles du Botaniste
Les filles du botaniste is a French and Canadian film, with the background set as in China. It was released in 2006...
(France/Canada, 2006).
Mainstream broadcast media
Lesbian characters made very rare appearances in scripted radio programs, almost always as killers or murder victims. The first lesbian on American radio was in an episode of the imported British crime anthology series The Black MuseumThe Black Museum
The Black Museum was a 1951 radio crime drama program independently produced by Harry Alan Towers and based on real-life cases from the files of Scotland Yard's Black Museum. Ira Marion was the scriptwriter, and music for the series was composed and conducted by Sidney Torch...
entitled "The Brass Button". The character, Jeanette Morgan, is the episode's murder victim. She is described as "not interested in men" and "living that strange and unnatural kind of way". Jeanette is murdered by a soldier who, having heard gossip about her, makes sexual advances. When she rejects him, he strangles her to death.
Early American television largely ignored lesbians. Homosexuality was not discussed on television until the mid-1950s, and when it was discussed — usually on local talk shows — it was almost uniformly male homosexuality under discussion. It was not until 1962, when an episode of Confidential File covered the 1962 convention of the Daughters of Bilitis
Daughters of Bilitis
The Daughters of Bilitis , was the first lesbian rights organization in the United States. It was formed in San Francisco in 1955, conceived as a social alternative to lesbian bars, which were considered illegal and thus subject to raids and police harassment...
, that a national broadcast specifically covered lesbianism. Lesbians were explicitly excluded from the proposal for the country's first documentary broadcast on homosexuality, 1961's The Rejected
The Rejected
The Rejected is a documentary film about homosexuality, produced for KQED in San Francisco by John W. Reavis,The Rejected was the first documentary program on homosexuality broadcast on American television. It initially ran on September 11, 1961, and was later syndicated to National Educational...
, and from the first network documentary on homosexuality, "The Homosexuals
CBS Reports: The Homosexuals
"The Homosexuals" is a 1967 episode of the documentary television series CBS Reports. The hour-long broadcast featured a discussion of a number of topics related to homosexuality and homosexuals. Mike Wallace anchored the episode, which aired on March 7, 1967...
", a 1967 installment of CBS Reports
CBS Reports
CBS Reports is the umbrella title used for documentaries by CBS News which aired starting in 1959 through the 1990s. The series sometimes aired as a wheel series rotating with 60 Minutes , as a series of its own or as specials. The program aired as a constant series from 1959 to 1971...
. On scripted television, the earliest lesbian characters were "coded", like the villainous Miss Brant on The Asphalt Jungle (1961), a repressed lesbian who shoots girls on lovers' lane for making themselves available to boys, or neurotics like Hallie Lambert from a 1963 episode of The Eleventh Hour
The Eleventh Hour (1962 TV series)
The Eleventh Hour is an American medical drama about psychiatry starring Wendell Corey, Jack Ging, and Ralph Bellamy, which aired sixty-two new episodes plus selected rebroadcasts on NBC from October 3, 1962, to September 9, 1964.-Series premise:...
. After years during which the only portrayals of lesbians on television were negative, stereotypical, or both, NBC aired "Flowers of Evil
Flowers of Evil (Police Woman)
"Flowers of Evil" is a 1974 episode of the American police procedural television series Police Woman. The episode features Sgt. Suzanne "Pepper" Anderson going undercover at a nursing home to investigate a murder. She uncovers a trio of lesbians who are robbing and murdering their elderly residents...
" a 1974 episode of the series Police Woman
Police Woman (TV series)
Police Woman is an American television police drama starring Angie Dickinson that ran on NBC for four seasons, from September 13, 1974, to March 29, 1978.-Synopsis:...
. In it a trio of lesbians (described by Lesbian Tide magazine as "The Butch, The Bitch and The Femme") were robbing and murdering the elderly residents of the nursing home they ran. Lesbian activists operating under the name Lesbian Feminist Liberation staged a zap
Zap (action)
A zap is a form of political direct action that came into use in the 1970s in the United States. Popularized by the early gay liberation group Gay Activists Alliance, a zap was a raucous public demonstration designed to embarrass a public figure or celebrity while calling the attention of both gays...
at NBC's New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
headquarters. Ten women entered the building and occupied it overnight. Around 75 women demonstrated in front of the building. The following morning protesters unfurled a twenty foot long banner from the balcony of vice president Herminio Traviesas's office reading "LESBIANS PROTEST NBC". They and street-level picketers chanted slogans like "NBC works against lesbians" and "Lesbians are sitting in".
The 1980s television series L.A. Law
L.A. Law
L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,...
included a lesbian relationship which stirred much more controversy than lesbian TV characters would a decade later. The 1989 BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
mini series Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (TV serial)
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit was a critically acclaimed 1990 BBC television drama, directed by Beeban Kidron. Jeanette Winterson wrote the screenplay, adapting her semi-autobiographical first novel of the same name . The BBC produced and screened three episodes, running to a total of 2 hours and...
was based on lesbian writer Jeanette Winterson
Jeanette Winterson
Jeanette Winterson OBE is a British novelist.-Early years:Winterson was born in Manchester and adopted on 21 January 1960. She was raised in Accrington, Lancashire, by Constance and John William Winterson...
's novel of the same title. Russian pop-duo t.A.T.u
T.A.T.u.
t.A.T.u. was a duo formed in Moscow, Russia in 1999 by Ivan Shapovalov. The group consisted of Lena Katina and Yulia Volkova.Their debut single "Ya Soshla S Uma" was released in December 2000. The single had a huge success in Russia and Eastern Europe...
were popular in Europe during the early 2000s, gaining wide attention and TV airplay for their pop video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s because they were marketed as lesbians even though they were not.
Many science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
series have featured lesbian characters. An episode of Babylon 5
Babylon 5
Babylon 5 is an American science fiction television series created, produced and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. The show centers on a space station named Babylon 5: a focal point for politics, diplomacy, and conflict during the years 2257–2262...
featured an implied lesbian relationship between characters Talia Winters
Talia Winters
Talia Winters is a fictional character appearing on the science fiction television show Babylon 5 during its first and second seasons. She was portrayed by actress Andrea Thompson....
and Commander Susan Ivanova
Susan Ivanova
Susan Ivanova is a fictional character in the science fiction television series Babylon 5, played by Claudia Christian.-Character overview:...
. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
featured a few episodes with elements of lesbianism that implied, but never stated, that in Star Trek's 24th century such relationships are accepted, even though the show never actually depicted one. Torchwood
Torchwood
Torchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. The series is a spin-off from Davies's 2005 revival of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. The show has shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from...
's first series involved brief lesbian encounters for both Gwen Cooper
Gwen Cooper
Gwen Cooper is a fictional character in the BBC television programme Torchwood, a spin-off to the long-running show Doctor Who, portrayed by Welsh actress Eve Myles. The series' lead female character, Gwen has featured in every episode of the sci-fi programme to date as well as two crossover...
(Eve Myles
Eve Myles
Eve Myles is an award winning Welsh actress of stage and screen. She is best known to Welsh audiences for her portrayal of Ceri Owen in the BBC Wales drama Belonging, and to audiences worldwide for her role as Gwen Cooper in the science fiction show Torchwood, a spin-off from Doctor Who.-Personal...
) and Toshiko Sato
Toshiko Sato
is a fictional character from the television series Doctor Who and its spin-off Torchwood, played by Naoko Mori. After a one-off appearance in the Doctor Who episode "Aliens of London" , Toshiko is re-introduced as a series regular in the Torchwood 2006 premiere episode "Everything Changes"...
(Naoko Mori
Naoko Mori
is a British-Japanese actress known for roles as Sarah, Saffron's "odd" friend in Absolutely Fabulous, Mie Nishikawa in Casualty, and Toshiko Sato in Doctor Who and Torchwood.-Early life:...
), but in each instance alien intervention was responsible. AfterEllen reviewer Karman Klegroe criticises Torchwood's record on this score concluding that: "sexual tension between the male characters, particularly Captain Jack and Ianto, is standard fare, whereas the women have very few sexual interactions that aren't quickly explained away by alien circumstances". In the fourth series, recurring character Charlotte Willis (Marina Benedict) was eventually revealed to be a lesbian.
Actress and comedian Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen Lee DeGeneres is an American stand-up comedienne, television host and actress. She hosts the syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and was also a judge on American Idol for one year, having joined the show in its ninth season....
came out publicly as a lesbian in 1997 and her character on the sitcom Ellen
Ellen (TV series)
Ellen is a U.S. television sitcom that ran on the ABC network from March 29, 1994 to July 22, 1998, producing 109 episodes.The theme song, "So Called Friend" is by Scottish band Texas...
did likewise soon after during its fourth season. This was the first American sitcom with a lesbian lead character. The coming-out episode
The Puppy Episode
"The Puppy Episode" is a two-part episode of the situation comedy television series Ellen. The episode details lead character Ellen Morgan's realization that she is a lesbian and her coming out. It was the 22nd and 23rd episode of the series' 4th season...
won an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
, but the series was canceled after one more season.
The HBO series Deadwood
Deadwood (TV series)
Deadwood is an American Western drama television series created, produced and largely written by David Milch. The series aired on the premium cable network HBO from March 21, 2004, to August 27, 2006, spanning three 12-episode seasons. The show is set in the 1870s in Deadwood, South Dakota, before...
featured a lesbian madam running a local brothel.
In 2000, the ABC Daytime
ABC Daytime
ABC Daytime is a programming block on the ABC Network which has historically encompassed soap operas, game shows and talk shows.-Schedule:...
drama series All My Children
All My Children
All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. The show features Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most...
character Bianca Montgomery
Bianca Montgomery
Bianca Christine Montgomery is a fictional character from the American daytime drama All My Children. In June 2010, Christina Bennett Lind replaced Eden Riegel, who portrayed the role from July 2000 to January 2010. Until Riegel assumed the role, the character was portrayed solely by child...
(Eden Riegel
Eden Riegel
Eden Sonja Jane Riegel is an American actress. She portrayed Bianca Montgomery on the daytime drama All My Children, and propelled the character into a gay icon, as well as a popular figure within the medium...
) was revealed to be a lesbian. Though the storyline received significant praise from critics and viewers and spun two popular romances (Bianca Montgomery and Maggie Stone
Bianca Montgomery and Maggie Stone
Bianca Montgomery and Maggie Stone are fictional characters and a supercouple from the American daytime drama All My Children. Bianca was portrayed by Eden Riegel, and Maggie was portrayed by Elizabeth Hendrickson....
, Lena Kundera and Bianca Montgomery
Lena Kundera and Bianca Montgomery
Lena Kundera and Bianca Montgomery are fictional characters from the American daytime drama All My Children. Commonly referred to by the portmanteau "Lianca" , they were the first lesbian couple on an American soap opera. Lena was portrayed by Olga Sosnovska, and Bianca was portrayed by Eden Riegel...
), it was also met with criticism for its almost perpetual trauma and Bianca's lack of a successful long-running romance with another woman. The character was later given a wife to combat this, in the pairing of Reese Williams and Bianca Montgomery
Reese Williams and Bianca Montgomery
Reese Williams and Bianca Montgomery are fictional characters and a lesbian couple from the ABC daytime drama All My Children. Reese was portrayed by Tamara Braun, and Bianca was portrayed by Eden Riegel. On Internet message boards, the pairing is commonly referred to by the portmanteaus "Rianca" ...
, which became the first legal same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
in American daytime television, but this was also met with criticism; critics and fans reasoned that the storyline was underdeveloped and essentially failed in popularity.
Showtime's The L Word
The L Word
The L Word is an American co-production television drama series originally shown on Showtime portraying the lives of a group of lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people and their friends, family and lovers in the trendy Greater Los Angeles, California city of West Hollywood...
is a drama focusing on the relationships of a group of women. The majority of the characters are bisexual and lesbian women, including: Dana Fairbanks, Alice Pieszecki
Alice Pieszecki
Alice Pieszecki is a fictional character on the Showtime television network series The L Word, shown nationally in the United States. She is played by American actress Leisha Hailey. Alice lives in Los Angeles, California, and mostly hangs out in West Hollywood...
, Bette Porter
Bette Porter
Bette Porter is a fictional character on the Showtime television network series The L Word, played by Jennifer Beals. While she is portrayed as the one true love of Tina Kennard, she is a successful career woman who often struggles with commitment in her intimate relationships, often sabotaging...
, Shane McCutcheon
Shane McCutcheon
Shane McCutcheon is a fictional character from the American Showtime television drama series The L Word, played by Katherine Moennig.-Backstory:...
, Tina Kennard
Tina Kennard
Tina Kennard is a fictional character on the Showtime television network series The L Word, shown nationally in the United States. She is played by American actress Laurel Holloman. Tina lives in Los Angeles, California, and mostly hangs out in West Hollywood...
, Jodi Lerner, Helena Peabody, Phyllis Kroll, and Jenny Schecter
Jenny Schecter
Jennifer "Jenny" Schecter is a fictional character from the American Showtime television drama series The L Word, played by Mia Kirshner. Jenny debuted on-screen during the pilot episode and remained until the series' final episode. Jenny became well documented in the media for her outlandish plots...
. The success of The L Word led to a reality television spinoff, The Real L Word
The Real L Word
The Real L Word: Los Angeles is an American reality television series aired on the cable station Showtime, where it premiered on June 20, 2010. The show was created by executive producer Ilene Chaiken and Magical Elves Productions, following the success of the television drama The L Word...
, which premiered in 2010.
In 2005, an episode of The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
("There's Something About Marrying
There's Something About Marrying
"There's Something About Marrying" is the tenth episode of the sixteenth season of The Simpsons. In the episode, Springfield legalizes same-sex marriage to increase tourism. After becoming a minister, Homer starts to wed people to make money. Meanwhile, Marge's sister Patty comes out as gay and...
") depicted Marge's
Marge Simpson
Marjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
sister Patty coming out as a lesbian. Also that year on Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
the final appearance of assistant district attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
Serena Southerlyn
Serena Southerlyn
Serena Southerlyn is a fictional character on the long-running NBC drama series Law & Order.-Character overview:Southerlyn joined the District Attorney's office in 2001 as an ADA, replacing Abbie Carmichael...
included the revelation she was a lesbian, although some viewers claimed there had been hints of this in previous episodes.
Other notable lesbian characters and appearances in the mainstream media have included:
- Alison SteadmanAlison SteadmanAlison Steadman OBE is an English actress. She established her career with roles such as Beverley in Abigail's Party and Candice Marie in Nuts in May for the director Mike Leigh, to whom she was once married. In addition to her stage and radio work, she has had lead roles in The Singing Detective,...
(Jackie) and Myra FrancesMyra FrancesMyra Frances is a British actress.In the 1974 Second City Firsts episode "Girl", Frances performed, with Alison Steadman, the first lesbian kiss on British television....
(Harvey) in Girl, a 1974 BBC play: the first lesbian kiss on British television. - Kim Daniels in the UK TV series Sugar RushSugar Rush (TV series)Sugar Rush is an Emmy Award–winning British television comedy drama series developed by Shine Limited and broadcast by Channel 4, based on the Julie Burchill novel of the same name...
- Liz CruzLiz CruzDr. Elizabeth "Liz" Troy is a fictional character in the American television series Nip/Tuck, and is portrayed by Roma Maffia.-Character history:...
in Nip/TuckNip/TuckNip/Tuck is an American drama series created by Ryan Murphy, which aired on FX in the United States. The series focuses on McNamara/Troy, a plastic surgery practice, and follows its founders, Sean McNamara and Christian Troy... - Willow RosenbergWillow RosenbergWillow Rosenberg is a fictional character created for the fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer . She was developed by Joss Whedon and portrayed throughout the TV series by Alyson Hannigan...
, Tara MaclayTara MaclayTara Maclay is a fictional character created for the fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer . She was developed by Joss Whedon and portrayed by Amber Benson from the fourth to the sixth season until the character's death. Tara is a shy young woman with magical talents who falls in love...
and Kennedy in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and Satsu in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight comicBuffy the Vampire Slayer Season EightBuffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight is a comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics. The series serves as a canonical continuation of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and follows the events of that show's final televised season. It is produced by Joss Whedon, who wrote the...
) - Detective Kima GreggsKima GreggsDetective Shakima "Kima" Greggs is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actress Sonja Sohn. Greggs is a police detective in the Baltimore Police Department who is a dedicated officer and capable detective with some off-the-job issues. Openly lesbian, she has had problems...
and the eponymous criminal enforcer Felicia 'Snoop' Pearson from the HBO series The WireThe WIREthe WIRE is the student-run College radio station at the University of Oklahoma, broadcasting in a freeform format. The WIRE serves the University of Oklahoma and surrounding communities, and is staffed by student DJs. The WIRE broadcasts at 1710 kHz AM in Norman, Oklahoma...
. - Lindsay Peterson and Melanie Marcus in Queer as Folk
- Maia JeffriesMaia JeffriesMaia Anne Jeffries is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street. She was portrayed by Anna Jullienne from mid 2004 to early 2011, with the character starring in numerous high profile storylines alongside her on screen family....
and Jay Copeland in Shortland StreetShortland StreetShortland Street is a New Zealand prime-time soap opera, first broadcast on Television New Zealand's TV2 on 25 May 1992. It is the country's longest-running drama and soap opera, being broadcast continuously for over 4500 episodes and 19 years, and is one of the most watched television programs in... - Lana CrawfordLana CrawfordLana Crawford is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Bridget Neval. She made her first appearance on 31 August 2004. Lana was introduced as Neighbours first openly lesbian character. During her tenure, Lana became friends with Sky Mangel and they shared the...
and Georgina Harris in NeighboursNeighboursNeighbours is an Australian television soap opera first broadcast on the Seven Network on 18 March 1985. It was created by TV executive Reg Watson, who proposed the idea of making a show that focused on realistic stories and portrayed adults and teenagers who talk openly and solve their problems... - C. J. Lamb (Amanda DonohoeAmanda DonohoeAmanda Donohoe is an English film and television actress. She is known for her 1980s relationship with popstar Adam Ant and her later work on television — including L.A. Law and Emmerdale — and her roles in successful movies including Liar, Liar.-Early life:Donohoe was born in London, the daughter...
) in L.A. LawL.A. LawL.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,... - Dr. Kerry WeaverKerry WeaverDr. Kerry Weaver, portrayed by Laura Innes, was an fictional character on the NBC television series ER; she first appeared as a recurring character actor in season 2, and became a regular cast member in season 3. In January 2007, Innes left the show after 12 years and Kerry Weaver moved to...
, Sandy López and Kim Legaspi in ERER (TV series)ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television... - Helen Stewart and Nikki Wade in Bad GirlsBad Girls (TV series)Bad Girls is an award-winning British television drama series that was broadcast on ITV from 1999 to 2006. It is produced by Shed Productions, the company which later produced Footballers' Wives and Waterloo Road...
- Paige MichalchukPaige MichalchukPaige Michalchuk is a fictional character in the TV series Degrassi: The Next Generation, portrayed by Lauren Collins.Paige was initially presented as the stereotypical "Queen bee": rich, snobby, and popular...
and Alex Núñez in Degrassi:The Next GenerationDegrassi: The Next GenerationDegrassi: The Next Generation is a Canadian teen drama television series set in the Degrassi universe, which was created by Linda Schuyler and Kit Hood in 1979. Degrassi is the fourth fictional series in the Degrassi franchise, and follows The Kids of Degrassi Street, Degrassi Junior High, and... - DorothyDorothy ZbornakDorothy Hollingsworth , is a fictional character from the TV series The Golden Girls, portrayed by Bea Arthur for 7 years and 183 episodes. Dorothy was the strong, sarcastic, sometimes intimidating, and arguably most grounded of the four women in the house...
's college friend Jean in The Golden GirlsThe Golden GirlsThe Golden Girls is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris, which originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992. Starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty, the show centers on four older women sharing a home in Miami, Florida... - Beth Jordache (Anna FrielAnna FrielAnna Louise Friel is an English actress. She rose to fame in the UK as Beth Jordache on the Channel 4 soap Brookside.-Early life:...
) and Margaret Clemence (Nicola StephensonNicola StephensonNicola Stephenson is an English actress. She is known mainly for her roles in television, which include Margaret Clemence in Brookside, Julie Fitzjohn/Bradford in Holby City, Suzie Davidson in Clocking Off, Jackie in ITV's Christmas Lights/Northern Lights/City Lights, and Sarah Williams in BBC's...
) on the UK series BrooksideBrooksideBrookside is a defunct British soap opera set in Liverpool, England. The series began on the launch night of Channel 4 on 2 November 1982, and ran for 21 years until 4 November 2003... - Spencer CarlinSpencer CarlinSpencer Carlin is a fictional character from the television series South of Nowhere. Spencer attends King High, the central setting for the show...
and Ashley DaviesAshley DaviesAshley Davies is a fictional character from the television series South of Nowhere. She attended King High School before she got a 12.5 million dollar inheritance, and is portrayed by actress Mandy Musgrave....
in South of NowhereSouth of NowhereSouth of Nowhere is an American teen drama television series created by Thomas W. Lynch. Aimed primarily at teenagers, it first aired on November 4, 2005 and was one of six original series on The N. The second half of the third and final season aired October 10, 2008 and the final episode aired on... - Carol, Ross' ex-wife and her life partner Susan on FriendsFriendsFriends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
- Edith (Vanessa RedgraveVanessa RedgraveVanessa Redgrave, CBE is an English actress of stage, screen and television, as well as a political activist.She rose to prominence in 1961 playing Rosalind in As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since made more than 35 appearances on London's West End and Broadway, winning...
), Fran (Sharon StoneSharon StoneSharon Vonne Stone is an American actress, film producer, and former fashion model. She achieved international recognition for her role in the erotic thriller Basic Instinct...
) and Kal (Ellen DeGeneresEllen DeGeneresEllen Lee DeGeneres is an American stand-up comedienne, television host and actress. She hosts the syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and was also a judge on American Idol for one year, having joined the show in its ninth season....
) in If These Walls Could Talk 2If These Walls Could Talk 2If These Walls Could Talk 2 is an Emmy Award-winning 2000 television movie in the United States, broadcast on HBO. It follows three separate storylines about lesbian couples in three different time periods... - Jennifer K. Buckmeyer in the made for TV special Coming Out
- Patty Bouvier, sister of Marge Simpson, on The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
- Naomi JulienNaomi JulienNaomi Julien is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Petra Letang. She first appeared in the show in the episode broadcast on 15 August 2005. The character was axed in January 2007 and her final scenes were broadcast on 24 May 2007...
, Della AlexanderDella AlexanderDella Alexander is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Michelle Joseph 1994–1995. Della is the first lesbian character to be featured on the show.-Storylines:...
and Binnie RobertsBinnie RobertsBinnie Roberts is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Sophie Langham.Binnie was an out and proud lesbian, which was in stark contrast to her shy and retiring girlfriend.-Storylines:...
in EastEndersEastEndersEastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End... - Thelma BatesThelma BatesThelma Bates is a fictional character played by Jemima Rooper in Sky One's British horror dramedy series Hex.She appeared in every episode of the programme...
in HexHex (TV series)Hex is a British television programme developed by Shine Limited and aired on the Sky One satellite channel. The story is about a remote English country school that becomes the battleground between a demonic entity and the witches who oppose it... - Jessica Sammler and Katie Singer on Once and AgainOnce and AgainOnce and Again is an American television series that aired on ABC from September 21, 1999 to April 15, 2002. It depicts the family of a single mother and her romance with a single father...
- Jasmine ThomasJasmine ThomasJasmine Thomas is a fictional character in the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale. She was played by Jenna-Louise Coleman.-Storylines:Jasmine arrived in Emmerdale on 30 June 2005. Sent to the village by her parents during her holidays from boarding school, she stayed with her uncle Ashley Thomas, the...
and Debbie DingleDebbie DingleDeborah "Debbie" Dingle is a fictional character in the British ITV1 soap opera Emmerdale. She is portrayed by Charley Webb...
, and Zoe TateZoe TateZoe Tate is a fictional character on the ITV soap opera Emmerdale. She was played by Leah Bracknell. She appeared between December 1989 and September 2005.-1989–2001:...
in EmmerdaleEmmerdaleEmmerdale, is a long-running British soap opera set in Emmerdale , a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale was first broadcast on 16 October 1972... - Maggie SawyerMaggie SawyerMaggie Sawyer is a fictional character that appears in stories published by DC Comics, and has been a supporting character in both Superman and Batman comic books.-Fictional character biography:...
and Toby Raines (implied) in Superman: The Animated SeriesSuperman: The Animated SeriesSuperman: The Animated Series is an American animated television series starring DC Comics' flagship character, Superman. The series was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on The WB from September 6, 1996 to February 12, 2000. Warner Bros... - Beverly Harris and Nancy Bartlett in RoseanneRoseanne (TV series)Roseanne is an American sitcom broadcast on ABC from October 18, 1988 to May 20, 1997. Starring Roseanne Barr, the show revolved around the Conners, an Illinois working class family...
- Frankie Doyle, Angela Jeffries, Sharon GilmourPrisoner characters - InmatesA list of all inmates of Wentworth Detention Centre in the television series Prisoner.Note that episode numbers cited are for first and last appearances; many characters had spells where they were absent and subsequently returned....
, Judy Bryant, Joan Ferguson, Audrey Forbes, Terri Malone in PrisonerPrisoner (TV series)Prisoner is an Australian television soap opera which was set in the Wentworth Detention Centre, a fictional women's prison. The series was produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation and ran on Network Ten for 692 episodes from 27 February 1979 to 11 December 1986.The series was inspired by the 1970s...
, 1979–1986. - Serena SoutherlynSerena SoutherlynSerena Southerlyn is a fictional character on the long-running NBC drama series Law & Order.-Character overview:Southerlyn joined the District Attorney's office in 2001 as an ADA, replacing Abbie Carmichael...
on Law & OrderLaw & OrderLaw & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,... - XenaXenaXena is a fictional character from Robert Tapert's Xena: Warrior Princess franchise. She first appeared in the 1995–1999 television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, before going on to appear in Xena: Warrior Princess TV show and subsequent comic book of the same name...
and GabrielleGabrielle (Xena)Gabrielle is a fictional character played by Renée O'Connor in Xena: Warrior Princess. She is referred to by fans as the Battling Bard of Potidaea. Her trademark weapons are the Amazon fighting staff and later, the sais...
(implied and debatable) in Xena: Warrior PrincessXena: Warrior PrincessXena: Warrior Princess is an American–New Zealand supernatural fantasy adventure series that aired in syndication from September 4, 1995 until June 18, 2001.... - Pittsburg Police SWAT commander Lt. Connie Reubens in The Kill PointThe Kill PointThe Kill Point is a television series that follows a group of U.S. Marines recently returned from serving in Iraq as they come together to pull off a major bank heist of a Three Rivers Bank branch in Pittsburgh. The series, produced by Mandeville Films and Lionsgate Television, is the first drama...
- Emily Fitch in the UK TV series SkinsSkins (TV series)Skins is a BAFTA award-winning British teen drama that follows a group of teenagers in Bristol, South West England, through the two years of college. The controversial plot line explores issues such as dysfunctional families, mental illness , adolescent sexuality, substance abuse and death...
The "lesbian kiss episode"
Mainstream American broadcast media have created a sub-genre of lesbian portrayal with what is sometimes referred to as the "lesbian kiss episode", in which a lesbian or bisexual character and a heterosexual-identified character kiss. In most instances, the potential of a relationship between the women does not survive past the episode and the lesbian character rarely appears again. The first of these was "He's a CrowdHe's a Crowd
"He's a Crowd" is a 1991 episode of the American legal drama L.A. Law. In it, attorney Michael Kuzak defends a man with multiple personalities accused of murder, attorney Rosalind Shays helps her lover Leland McKenzie help a client, attorney Arnold Becker's divorce proceeds and attorneys Abby...
", a 1991 episode of the legal drama L.A. Law
L.A. Law
L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,...
.
Comics
For much of the 20th century, gay relationships were discouraged from being shown in comics which were seen mainly as directed towards children. Artists had to drop subtle hints while not stating directly a character's orientation. An example was in the 1938-39 edition of Milton CaniffMilton Caniff
Milton Arthur Paul Caniff was an American cartoonist famous for the Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon comic strips.-Biography:...
's Terry and the Pirates
Terry and the Pirates (comic strip)
Terry and the Pirates was an action-adventure comic strip created by cartoonist Milton Caniff. Captain Joseph Patterson, editor for the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate, had admired Caniff’s work on the children's adventure strip Dickie Dare and hired him to create the new adventure strip,...
: one of the main villains, Sanjak, has been interpreted by some as a lesbian with designs on the hero's girlfriend, though this is not openly stated. Further, some writers and others (notably Chris Rock
Chris Rock
Christopher Julius "Chris" Rock III is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, television producer, film producer and director. He was voted in the US as the 5th greatest stand-up comedian of all time by Comedy Central...
on Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
) have commented that the Peanuts
Peanuts
Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000, continuing in reruns afterward...
character Peppermint Patty
Peppermint Patty
Patricia "Peppermint Patty" Reichardt is a fictional character featured in Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts. A freckle-faced auburn/brunette, she is one of a small group in the strip who lives across town from Charlie Brown and his school friends...
is a lesbian (and inferred a relationship with her close friend Marcie
Marcie (Peanuts)
Marcie is a bespectacled fictional character featured in Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts. She serves as comedic foil and best friend to tomboy Peppermint Patty, plays a supporting role in some of Snoopy's heroic fantasies, and displays a romantic interest in Charlie Brown, who seems to love...
, although such an inference was never supported by the comic strip's content). (Peppermint Patties has been used as a pejorative slang word for lesbians.)
Until 1989 the Comics Code Authority
Comics Code Authority
The Comics Code Authority was a body created as part of the Comics Magazine Association of America, as a tool for the comics-publishing industry to self-regulate the content of comic books in the United States. Member publishers submitted comic books to the CCA, which screened them for adherence to...
, which imposed de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
censorship on comics sold through newsstands in the United States, forbade any suggestion of homosexuality. Overt lesbian themes were first found in underground and alternative
Alternative comics
Alternative comics defines a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to "mainstream" superhero comics which in the past have dominated the US comic book industry...
titles which did not carry the Authority's seal of approval. The first comic with an openly lesbian character was "Sandy Comes Out" by Trina Robbins
Trina Robbins
Trina Robbins is an American comics artist and writer. She was an early and influential participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the few female artists in underground comix when she started. Both as a cartoonist and historian, Robbins has long been involved in creating outlets for...
, published in the anthology Wimmen's Comix
Wimmen's Comix
Wimmen's Comix, later titled Wimmin's Comix, was an influential all-female underground comics anthology published from 1972 to 1992. Though it covered a wide range of genre and subject matter, Wimmen's Comix focused more than other anthologies of the time on feminist concerns, homosexuality, sex...
#1 in 1972.
Gay Comix (1980) included stories by and about lesbians and by 1985 the influential alternative title Love and Rockets
Love and Rockets (comics)
Love and Rockets is a black and white comic book series by Gilbert Hernandez and Jaime Hernandez, sometimes cited jointly as Los Bros Hernandez. Their brother Mario Hernandez is an occasional contributor...
had revealed a relationship between two major characters, Maggie and Hopey.
Meanwhile mainstream publishers were more reticent. A relationship between the female Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
characters Mystique
Mystique (comics)
Mystique is a fictional character associated with the Marvel Comics' franchise X-Men. Originally created by artist David Cockrum and writer Chris Claremont, she first appeared in Ms...
and Destiny
Destiny (Irene Adler)
Destiny is a Marvel Comics fictional character, known as an adversary of the X-Men. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne, the character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #141...
was only implied at first, then cryptically confirmed in 1990 through the use of the archaic word leman, meaning a lover or sweetheart. Only in 2001 was Destiny referred to in plain language as Mystique's lover. Previously, WildStorm
WildStorm
WildStorm Productions, or simply WildStorm, published American comic books. Originally an independent company established by Jim Lee and further expanded upon in subsequent years by other creators, WildStorm became a publishing imprint of DC Comics in 1999...
's Image Comics
Image Comics
Image Comics is a United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains...
had featured Sarah Rainmaker
Sarah Rainmaker
Sarah Rainmaker is a fictional superhero from the comic book series Gen¹³ created by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi and illustrated by J. Scott Campbell.-Character biography:...
of Gen¹³
Gen¹³
Gen¹³ is a fictional superhero team and comic book series originally written by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi and illustrated by J. Scott Campbell. It was originally published by Image Comics under the banner Wildstorm, which went on to become an imprint for DC Comics, who continued publishing the Gen¹³...
as a character with an interest in other women, and had openly depicted homosexual relationships between the members of the Authority, such as Jenny Sparks
Jenny Sparks
Jenny Sparks, also known as "The Spirit of the 20th century", is a fictional character in the Wildstorm comic book universe created by Warren Ellis during his 1997 revamp of the dwindling Stormwatch series...
and Swift
Swift (comics)
Swift is a fictional comic book superhero in the Wildstorm universe, published by DC Comics. Swift first appeared in Stormwatch #28 and was created by Jeff Mariotte and Ron Lim...
.
In 2006 DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
could still draw widespread media attention by announcing a new, lesbian incarnation of the well-known character Batwoman
Batwoman
Batwoman is the name of several fictional characters, female counterparts to the superhero Batman. The original version was created by Bob Kane and Sheldon Moldoff. Her alter ego is Kathy Kane. This character appears in publications produced by DC Comics and related media beginning in Detective...
even while openly lesbian characters such as Gotham City
Gotham City
Gotham City is a fictional U.S. city appearing in DC Comics, best known as the home of Batman. Batman's place of residence was first identified as Gotham City in Batman #4 . Gotham City is strongly inspired by Trenton, Ontario's history, location, atmosphere, and various architectural styles...
police officer Renee Montoya
Renee Montoya
Renee Montoya is a fictional comic book character published by DC Comics. The character was initially created for Batman: The Animated Series, and was preemptively introduced into mainstream comics before the airing of her animated debut in 1992....
already existed in DC Comics.
In 2006, the graphic memoir
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
Fun Home
Fun Home is a 2006 graphic memoir by American writer Alison Bechdel, author of the comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For. It chronicles the author's childhood and youth in rural Pennsylvania, USA, focusing on her complex relationship with her father...
by Alison Bechdel
Alison Bechdel
Alison Bechdel is an American cartoonist. Originally best known for the long-running comic strip Dykes To Watch Out For, in 2006 she became a best-selling and critically acclaimed author with her graphic memoir Fun Home.-Early life:...
, was lauded by many media as among the best books of the year. Bechdel is the author of Dykes to Watch Out For
Dykes to Watch out For
Dykes to Watch Out For was a comic strip by Alison Bechdel. The strip, which ran from 1983 to 2008, was one of the earliest ongoing representations of lesbians in popular culture and has been called "as important to new generations of lesbians as landmark novels like Rita Mae Brown’s Rubyfruit...
, one of the best-known and longest-running LGBT comic strips.
Manga and anime
In Japanese mangaManga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
and anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
, lesbian content is called Girls Love (in Japan) or yuri. In the west, a distinction is occasionally made between yuri (more explicitly sex-based) and shōjo-ai (more romance-based), a term created in the west by analogy with shōnen-ai. Shōjo-ai is not used in that sense in Japan, where (as a manga term) it mainly denotes lolicon
Lolicon
, also romanised as lolikon or rorikon, is a Japanese portmanteau of the phrase "Lolita complex". In Japan, the term describes an attraction to underage girls or an individual with such an attraction...
.
The third season of the anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
series Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon, known as , is a media franchise created by manga artist Naoko Takeuchi. Fred Patten credits Takeuchi with popularizing the concept of a team of magical girls, and Paul Gravett credits the series with "revitalizing" the magical-girl genre itself...
, Sailor Moon S, introduced Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, a lesbian couple. However, the season was heavily censored when dubbed and shown on TV in the United States. Many of the scenes which would suggest this particular relationship were cut away and the two characters were depicted as cousins (this led to further controversy as many fans noticed the editing). In many of the manga artist
Mangaka
is the Japanese word for a comic artist or cartoonist. Outside of Japan, manga usually refers to a Japanese comic book and mangaka refers to the author of the manga, who is usually Japanese...
group Clamp
Clamp (manga artists)
, is an all-female Japanese manga artist group that formed in the mid 1980s. Many of the group's manga series are often adapted into anime after release. It consists of their leader , who provides much of the storyline and screenplay for all their works and adaptations of those works respectively ,...
's series such as Miyuki-chan in Wonderland
Miyuki-chan in Wonderland
is a yuri manga series created by Clamp and serialised by Kadokawa Shoten in its Japanese edition of Newtype from 1993 to 1995. In 1995, an image album and an OVA version of the first two stories was released. The English language version of the manga was published by Tokyopop in 2003.The manga is...
or Cardcaptor Sakura
Cardcaptor Sakura
, abbreviated as CCS and also known as Cardcaptors, is a Japanese shōjo manga series written and illustrated by the manga artist group Clamp. The manga was originally serialized monthly in Nakayoshi from the May 1996 until the June 2000 issue, and later published in 12 tankōbon volumes by Kodansha...
, some characters are clearly lesbians. In Miyuki-chan in wonderland, for example, Miyuki is constantly trying to escape the attention of scantily-clad female admirers; while Tomoyo in CCS is famous for her ostensibly innocent but rather suspect obsession with playing "dress-up" with the lead character, Sakura.
Video games
SaGa FrontierSaGa Frontier
is a role-playing video game developed by Square for the PlayStation and released in Japan on July 11, 1997. The game was later published by Sony Computer Entertainment in North America on March 25, 1998. It is the seventh game in the SaGa series and the first to be released on the PlayStation...
(a PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
title produced by Square
Square (company)
was a Japanese video game company founded in September 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto. It merged with Enix in 2003 and became part of Square Enix...
) has a lesbian character named Asellus. Another character named Gina is a young girl who tailors Asellus' outfits, often discusses her deep attraction to Asellus and becomes her bride in one of the game's many endings. However, much related dialogue and some content has been edited out of the English language version. The PlayStation title Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix
Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix
Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix is an action-adventure game for the PlayStation in 2001. It was developed by Kronos Digital Entertainment and published by Eidos Interactive. Fear Effect 2 is a prequel chronicling the events that lead up to the original Fear Effect...
(a prequel to Fear Effect
Fear Effect
Fear Effect is an action-adventure game released for the PlayStation in 1999. It was developed by Kronos Digital Entertainment and published by Eidos Interactive. The story concerns three outlaws named Hana, Deke, and Glas who are trying to retrieve the missing daughter of a wealthy Chinese...
) reveals that Hana Tsu Vachel, a main character in both games, had a sexual relationship with a female character named Rain Qin. Strawberry Panic!
Strawberry Panic!
is a series of Japanese fictional illustrated short stories written by Sakurako Kimino, which focus on a group of teenage girls attending three affiliated all-girl schools on Astraea Hill. A common theme throughout the stories is the intimate lesbian relationships between the characters...
is a mild Japanese lesbian game for PlayStation 2 featuring romance amongst a group of female students living in a common all-girls' boarding house atop Astrea Hill. Tristia of the Deep-Blue Sea
Tristia of the Deep-Blue Sea
is a PS2 and PC game, developed by Kogado Studio. This game is part of the Deep-Blue series along with the sequel, . The story has been adapted into an OVA, and has been released with a title of "發明工坊" in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, U.S.A., Russia, and Poland....
, Neosphere of the Deep-Blue Sky, Akai Ito
Akai Ito
is a Japanese horror adventure game by Success Corporation, released exclusively for the PlayStation 2 in Japan on October 21, 2004. A reduced price "popular edition," included in developer and publisher SUCCESS' SuperLite 2000 Series, was released on October 27, 2005...
and Ayakashi Ninden Kunoichiban
Ayakashi Ninden Kunoichiban
is a Japanese dating sim by Shoeisha, released on March 14, 1997 for Windows 95 in Japan. A PlayStation, and Sega Saturn version were soon released as well. It is a female ninja dating sim, as well as a gal game. It is said that the lesbian elements appear to be stronger in the PlayStation...
, Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly
Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly
Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly, known in Japan as and in Europe as Project Zero II: Crimson Butterfly, is a survival horror video game developed by Tecmo. It is the second installment in the Fatal Frame series and is considered by some gaming magazines as one of the scariest video games ever...
, Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl are widely known in Japan.
External links
- AfterEllen.Com Lesbian and Bisexual Women in Entertainment and the Media
- The Encyclopedia of Lesbian Movie Scenes Warning: contains explicit content
- It's February; Pucker Up, TV Actresses The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, February 10, 2005.