Trish Bendix's blog

On the first episode of Sasamekikoto, Ushio comes out to her schoolgirl friends. However, she won't reveal her crush just yet.

Visit yuricon.com for more on lesbians in manga and anime and check back every Saturday for a new episode of Sasamekikoto.

Gay Men and Lesbians: How do they come together for the cause of equality? The ladies welcome actor and comedian Jason Stuart to the couch to share the boys' side of things and the girls end up rolling with laughter.

This week’s question: How do you stay away from the "bad girls"?

Watch previous episodes of Cherry Bomb and check out the official Cherry Bomb MySpace page. Keep up to date with the women of Cherry Bomb by subscribing to their monthly newsletter.

The other day in Morning Brew, I wrote that one of the women from the MTV show The City was in a short film from Stylecaster.com in which she said she "popped her lesbian cherry" by kissing another woman. However, I have to eat my words in saying that you wouldn't care to watch it, because you probably would.

AE reader lockanload sent us the link to the short, Bonnie and Bonnie and it is actually quite enjoyable. It stars Erin Bried (aforementioned reality star) and Adi Neumann as two "partners in life and crime," and a hotel doorman who is curious about their riches and fabulous lifestyle.

Watch and see what I mean:

In this week's episode, Michelle discuses Courtenay Semel calling herself the "Don Juan of Lesbians" and, in keeping with the theme, Tila Tequila's late night run-in with Ustream.

Michelle also asks you to weight in on the awesome that is Will Philips, the 10-year-old that won't pledge allegiance because of gay discrimination.

Learn out more about Michelle at MySpace.com/anythingsarcastic, follow her on Twitter and check back next Friday for another episode of Really?! REALLY?!

TGIF!

Reporters keep asking Precious director Lee Daniels why the lesbian teacher in the film is "so pretty." His response: "I have no problem with pretty lesbians, and besides, I thought it would be nice to have one glamorous character in the mix after all we go through with the mother. Why not the lesbian teacher who turns out to be the real hero and the one friend to Precious? When you have beauty on screen, you can breathe. Who cares if she's queer?" Mr. Daniels, your casting was very effective.

Paula Patton: You so pretty

Tila Tequila "is a lesbian" because she thinks "a woman's body is a beautiful thing." She also made a bizarre nudie video to prove it. Feminism thanks you, Tila.

This time Jennie takes a walk with the founder of Curve Magazine, Franco Stevens aboard The Norwegian Spirit on the maiden voyage of Sweet. With LGBT publications folding everyday, find out how Franco has kept Curve going for 20 years, including the exciting new components of the online version of the publication. And you won't believe how she initially funded it.

Franco also talks about the heart-warming stories she discovered during the trip at each port and what it felt like to be able to participate at each stop as a differently-abled person.

To find out more about Curve, go to curvemag.com and, as always, for more info on Jennie, her tour schedule and "The Extra Mile," go to jenniemcnulty.com.

This week, Dana and Helen of Mombian.com assert that, contrary to recent headlines, lesbian parents are not better than straight ones, although they're certainly no worse.

They also discuss Thanksgivings past and future and some of their favorite holiday crafts and recipes.

Check back in two weeks for a new episode.

This is part of an ongoing series of Jane's World comic strips posted every Thursday on AfterEllen.com.

For more Jane's World, visit PaigeBraddock.com, and read our previous Jane's World blog posts.

Good morning, gay ladies!

While you were sleeping, Mary Cheney and partner Heather Poe had a baby girl, Sarah Lynne Cheney. It is their second child, both of which were subjected to an unfortunate last name. Where was Heather when the birth certificates were being signed? If you had any doubts who wears the pants in that relationship, now you know.

"Have a baby by me, baby."

Daniela Sea will host a "compassionate Thanksgiving" in Oakland, Calif. on Nov. 21. The meal will be a "candlelit vegan dinner" and a "Feeding of the Turkeys" ceremony with a performance by punk rocker poet Jonathan Richman. If you've ever wanted to share a romantic punk rock dinner with Daniela, here's your chance. Don't wear fur — you might get Bitch slapped.

In the final episode of 2009, Cat's on the prowl with MadTV's Lauren Pritchard. Lauren gives Cat the scoop on working on the comedy show, playing gay, and dishes about her latest gig on True Blood. The actress does her Mia Michaels impression for Cat in a private dance lesson, and "Mia" reveals the real reason she left So You Think You Can Dance.

Plus, viewers are treated to some footage of dancers who never quite made it on to the show.

For more info on Cat, check out her MySpace page and check back in two weeks for a new episode.

Sarah Palin's new memoir, Going Rogue, came out yesterday and is already a best seller. Jimmy Fallon had a skit on his show last night featuring the book, Rachel Maddow and New Moon. It's just further proof that the MSNBC host has a great sense of humor.

How hilarious was Rachel's reaction to Going Rogue?

On this episode of All Access Pass, Andrea visits award winning filmmaker and former Sundance Film Festival short film programmer Roberta Monroe.

Roberta talks about her short films (Dani and Alice, Happy Birthday) and her newest project, Maja. She also shares her book How Not to Make a Short Film: Secrets from a Sundance Film Festival Programmer.

To learn more about Roberta Monroe, visit robertamonroe.com. For more information about Andrea, go to alloutfilms.com and womenonaroll.com.

The best thing about Melrose Place is Ella Simms.

I'm not just saying that because she's bisexual (or "trysexual," depending on who you ask), but because she's the only interesting character on the show who makes the vapid dialogue and recycled plotlines entertaining. And, sure, Katie Cassidy is pretty easy on the eyes.

So far this season, Ella hasn't done much more than flirt and share a short kiss — until last night's episode. The publicist, whose "life is [her] Blackberry," makes work her priority but isn't respected by her boss Amanda Woodward (Heather Locklear). In last night's episode, "Cahuenga," Ella throws a press event/party for Riley's new modeling gig, and talent agent Melissa Sax tries to woo Ella away from Amanda and her job at WPK.

Happy Hump Day!

One way to make the Twilight series more interesting? Moviefone took the words right out of our mouths: Make Bella bi-curious (ala Susan Sarandon in The Hunger). Curious about Rosalie, perhaps?

Joan Jett showed up to support KStew at the New Moon premiere in L.A. on Monday. At the rate she's aging, she should look 22 by spring.

A new interview with Olivia Wilde has her claiming Thirteen is going to be "less naive" and take things "more seriously" this season on House. I think she's really saying, "There will be a serious lesbian relationship between my character and Cuddy." Am I wrong to read into that too much?

Lynn Shelton's hit indie film Humpday is out on DVD as of today, but right now, she's looking Beyond Gay. The short film is being dubbed Humpday's "sequel," featuring a lesbian (Kanako Wynkoop) and a gay man (Julian Mitchell) who are trying to have sex. (Operative word: Trying.)

Of course, just like the straight male buds who attempt to have sex in Humpday, the results are quite hilarious (and not so safe for work).

“I came up with the concept for ‘Beyond Gay’ pretty quickly but shooting it was a little more of a challenge as I was in the midst of production on $5 Cover Seattle, a web series based around the local indie music scene, coming online via MTV.com in January 2010,” Shelton told IndieWire.com. Shelton showed the short as part of the amateur porn festival, HUMP!, which was the inspiration for Humpday.

This week on Gal Pals, Emily and I give our thoughts on Precious, which we saw last week. Then we discuss Dani Campbell's reaction to Tila Tequila's Tweeting about her and lesbians who end up married to men.

Check back next week for another episode of Gal Pals. Add Trish and Emily on Facebook and follow Trish and Emily on Twitter.

Good morning, gay women!

Let's get to the bad news first: Window Media, home to gay publications Southern Voice and Washington Blade, has filed for bankruptcy. According to the Washington Post, The Blade Nancy Tucker in the 1960s and started out as a single, letter-size sheet of paper that she mimeographed and distributed herself at gay-friendly bars. R.I.P. a huge part of the gay press.

Nancy Tucker

Speaking of losing legendary parts of the LGBTQ community, writer Andrea Lewis passed away from a massive heart attack this week. An out lesbian who covered homophobia, racism and sexism for The Progressive among other publications and radio stations. She will be missed.

OK, on to some lighter fare: Let's start with something relatively humorous — Tila Tequila. OURsceneTV caught up with Dani Campbell on the Sweet Cruise, right after they got enough Internet access to see Tila's firestorm of lesbian-"Dani is my lost love" Tweets last week. Dani had no idea that Tila "came out" but hasn't heard from her in years. In other news, Dani Campbell is single. Jump on it.

In other Twitter news, you can buy Samantha Ronson's account for a day, in the name of charity and reading all her crazy @ responses. It actually could be a fun drinking game — take a shot every time you see a Tweet @samantharonson from @lindsaylohan.

After several ups and downs in life and love, the German soap opera Verbotene Liebe's major lesbian character Carla Sophia Gräfin von Lahnstein (played by Claudia Hiersche) has exited the show under the premise of going on a "round-the-world trip."

Unfortunately, dedicated fans of the show know that actress Hiersche is not planning to return to the series anytime soon.

Her storyline ended on a positive note, with Carla and girlfriend, Stella (Anne Wis), getting engaged just before their departure. But, as we know with soap operas everywhere, this doesn't mean that Carla won't return sometime in the future. Let's just hope she hasn't ditched Stella somewhere in Spain.

Hiersche joined the show in 2003, taking on the role of the role of Carla, the beautiful countess whose rocky love life has included affairs with several women (Evelyn, Hanna, Anke), marriage to a man, being outed to her family, and divorcing her husband and then marrying a woman (Susanne), with whom she had a daughter (Sophia).

While her relationship with Susanne would eventually fail, Carla later met and fell in love with saucy hotel manager Stella.

(For a detailed overview of the Carla/Stella relationship and episode recaps in English, check out this blog by AE reader MeL, or read the AE Carla Hiersche/Verbotene Liebe forum thread.)

The development of the relationship between Carla and Stella was enjoyed by devoted fans in much the same way that Guiding Light fans celebrated the romance of Natalia and Olivia (aka Otalia). Carla and Stella were portrayed like the other couples on the show, including scenes showing their physical intimacy.

I can't help but feel like a skeptic when I hear that there's a major lesbian character in a new novel written by a man. There are men that handle queer women with care (Stieg Larsson, for instance) but there are still those that show how little they know about us by utilizing stereotype after stereotype to create a character.

Case in point: Philip Roth's The Humbling.

The New York Times Book Review had Kathryn Harrison give the book a write-up in this week's edition, and here are the basic plot points: Protagonist 65-year-old Simon Axler is a washed-up actor who keeps having failed plays. He becomes depressed and signs himself into a psychiatric hospital for a month. When he gets out, he meets a young lesbian named Pegeen Mike Stapleford. (Yes, that's really her name.) And yes — they enter into a sexual relationship &mdash: "The first time she had sex with a man since college."

Kathryn Harrison

Kathryn Harrison gave me exactly what I wanted to know about the major lesbian character in the book, and really makes me cringe:

We all have one — that woman (or man) we can’t seem to shake. In this episode of Lesbian Love, Jessica and Lacey investigate the ex: How to bring her/him up and nip ’em in the bud for good.

In order to have a successful relationship, the vloggers believe it’s paramount to deal with the past traumas together — communication is the key.

For more on Lacey and Jessica, visit their blog, follow them on Twitter (@laceystonefit and @jessicaclark) and check back every Monday for a new episode.

Welcome to our newest AfterEllen.com column, Morning Brew, featuring all the latest news and links that we think you'd be interested to read first thing in the a.m., or whenever you get around to it. (No pressure!) If you have any tips that you think AE readers would be into knowing about, please feel free to Tweet us or send an e-mail.

AOL's Queersighted has compiled a list of the top 10 Gay Superheroes, but there's only one woman, and Batwoman is not it.

Blake Lively, Julianne Moore, Penelope Cruz and Robin Wright Penn all attended the premiere of The Private Lives of Pippa Lee in New York City this weekend. Unfortunately, Blake brought her boyfriend and Julianne didn't have her bondage kit on hand.

A manga comic, Red String, has a lesbian character that falls for her high school's best athlete. The review doesn't indicate a sport, but I'm thinking softball is a possibility.

On this week's episode of From the Cheap Seats, Becca and Michelle report briefly on EuroLeague basketball with a special shout out to Janel McCarville for helping them. The majority of the vlog is dedicated to college media guides and why are they more glamorized.

Texas A&M Women’s Basketball Team

Is this glamorization of College Women’s Basketball good or bad for the sport? Is there an underlining homophobia?

This is a vlog by fans for fans, so please leave plenty of comments, questions, rants and raves, or anything else that comes to mind. And check back next weekend for another episode!

On this week's episode of Cherry Bomb, the vloggers are joined by friend and crew member Rosie Sennett for the third installment of "The Butch Mystique." Rosie discusses her coming out and the past and present struggles of butches in society.

This week's question: Should you tell your partners the truth when dating both men and women?

Watch previous episodes of Cherry Bomb and check out the official Cherry Bomb MySpace page. Keep up to date with the women of Cherry Bomb by subscribing to their monthly newsletter.

Earlier this week, we asked you Tweeters what celesbians you followed on Twitter.com, and found out some of your favorites. I use the term loosely, as women who have played lesbians are honorary. Here's who came out on top:

@suzeormanshow, @maddow, @theteganandsara, @crystalchappell, @theellenshow, @uhhuhhermusic, @samantharonson, @siamusic, @jdsamson, @katemoennig, and @hipflor.

These women are all seasoned Tweeters, and surely entertaining. If you're looking for some new women to follow, here are a few suggestions:

Actress Melanie Lynskey (Heavenly Creatures, The L Word, But I'm a Cheerleader)

If Stephanie Riebel looks familiar, you could have seen her in a variety of places. She's had guest spots on Monk, Two and a Half Men, and she's also one of the stars of a new bisexual web series, Rose by Any Other Name.

The series is from FenceSitterFilms, who was behind the Ally Sheedy/Ruby Dee film Steam, which also had a bisexual theme.

Riebel plays a lesbian (Rose) who decides to date a man, which makes friends upset and her family ecstatic. The actress recently in a recent interview told an interviewer she's actually finding herself on the other side of things.