Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever. (August 7, 2009)

Due to the general lack of lesbian and bi characters on TV everywhere right now (except Germany — more on that in a moment), I've decided to suspend the weekly TV recaps for now, and introduce a new feature instead. (We'll be testing other new features in the column in the coming weeks.)

WOMAN OF THE WEEK
In this new weekly feature, we're inviting readers to vote for the Woman of the Week from among a few queer (or queer-friendly) women who did something newsworthy this week. As you'll notice, it's a mix of real and fictional people, which obviously means this isn't a scientific study — but this is an entertainment site, not the Census Bureau.

Here are this week's candidates — vote for your favorite at the bottom of the page, and then click the "view results" link to see how everyone else voted.

1. Cat Cora

Why? She's a successful openly gay chef who juggles writing cookbooks making press appearances, tweeting, raising money for charity, opening new restaurants, and competing regularly on the Food Network's popular series Iron Chef — and she just gave birth to a son this week (her partner Jennifer has given birth to their three other sons).

Cora featured in a July issue of People magazine

Her growing visibility and openness about her family helps to normalize lesbians and lesbian families for mainstream America. Her food just makes us hungry.

2. Carla on Verbotene Liebe (Forbidden Love)

Why? This week Carla (Claudia Hiersche) finally had a roll in the hay — OK, technically straw — with love interest Stella (Anne Wis), after months of growing sexual tension between them. Yes, that's right, a lesbian couple had sex on TV, and the world didn't end. Shocking! (Thanks to Annelies for the info.)

Carla, top, and Stella on Verbotene Liebe this week

But that's not why we're nominating her  — Carla deserves recognition simply because, after years on the popular German soap, she's actually still alive. And still gay. The fact that she actually has a love life is just icing on the lesbian cake!

3. Batwoman

Why? The only thing better than a female superhero is a lesbian superhero. Even better: A lesbian superhero with an awesome costume and a well-written story, which perfectly describes the star of DC Comics' new Detective Series.

"Batwoman is sexy," StuntDouble writes in her review of the first two issues. "She seems to take an almost sadistically sensual approach to interrogation ... But her interaction with her girlfriend is authentic and natural." 'Nuff said.

Now vote on which of these women deserves to be the Woman of the Week, and let us know how you voted in the comments!