Real L Word LA Gears Up, Tabatha Takes Over, Glee Casts & Celebrates, Three Rivers Flatlines

REAL L WORD: Showtime’ s Winter 2010 TCA took places this weekend. Showtime has ordered 10 episodes of a one-hour drama series based on the infamous Italian Renaissance family The Borgias, The Big C, a series starring Laura Linney about a woman who finds she has cancer; and Episodes” about trying to bring a British comedy to the U.S. and starring Matt LeBlanc.

Reality spinoff “The Real L Word of Los Angeles” has finished casting and will air this summer. Sources tell us that filming will start next week, so get thee to The Abbey, all ye stalkers, and bring your Jenny Schecter iPhones! Should be some smokin’ hot twentysomethings anchoring the cast.

And speaking of actual lesbians and cast members of the ORIGINAL L Word, SheWired reporst that “Kate Moennig’s fledgling show Three Rivers has officially flat-lined. CBS pulled the plug on the medical drama that focused on organ donor doctors.”

GLEE: Also in Los Angeles, GLEE Actors Dianna Agron, Cory Monteith, Jane Lynch, Lea Michele, Jenna Ushkowitz, Kevin McHale, Jessayln Gilsig, Jayma Mays, Dijon Talton, and Amber Riley attend the celebration of Glee’s Golden Globe nominations with InStyle and 20th Century Fox held at Sunset Tower on January 9, 2010 in West Hollywood, California:

GLEE cast is full of GLEE

Broadway's Lea Michelle & her gay (Jonathan Groff = LOVE HIM)

Jayma Mays & Jessalyn Gilsig

Glee Cast Is SO EXCITANT!

SPOILERS: As we wait with baited breath for the second half of GLEE season one, let us look forward to what might happen next year. Recent casting calls for GLEE include:

18-25 year old blonde high school guys & girls that can look like Madonna

Guys and girls between the ages of 18-22 years old to play Audio Visual, nerdy type students.

Cute 18-22 year old girls to play High School Cheerleaders. “Must be young and cute with open availability.”

Males. Must have experience sinking baskets and playing in COLLEGE WE ARE NOT LOOKING FOR PEOPLE WHOM HAVE PLAYED IN HIGH SCHOOL OR JUST PLAY FOR FUN. Let us know what COLLEGE you played ball at in the notes section (need to check references) Ages 18-24 Must look like you are in HIGH SCHOOL – MUST BE 6’1 OR TALLER/DO NOT SUBMIT IF YOU ARE NOT.

TABATHA: Don’t pretend you aren’t curious about what The Baddest Bitch On TV has to say about being an out lesbian in the public eye. LUCKILY SHE IS HERE TO ANSWER ALL YOUR QUESTIONS. “Yeah, people thought it looked quite fabulous to see Tabatha walking around with a baby, so there are obviously people out there who want me barefoot and pregnant. Some men have even offered to donate sperm, which is lovely; however, it’s not my thing.” (@advocate)

PERRY: In ridiculous and kind of infuriating news, Katy Perry has allegedly “warned husband-to-be Russell Brand that she will become a lesbian if he cheats on her.” Pretty ballsy for someone who has never actually kissed a girl! Claiming to have “a soft spot for women,” (albeit apparently not actual bisexual women completely stereotyped and alienated by her music) she says specifically: “Some women walk into the room and they are so beautiful and you are like – ‘I wanna smell you’.” There you have it, ladies. After all that teasing, Katy Perry might smell you. Also, once again in a bizarre journalistic turn of events, the only news publication to apparently care about this is The Hindustan Times. (@hindustantimes)

REAL WORLD: Remember when we talked about the supercute bisexual contestants on The Real World DC and you wondered if they were the answer to all your questions in life? It turns out maybe yes! Queerty says that if you scroll to the 37:00 mark in this video, Mike and Emily will explain why“…straight guys (and, apparently, bi ones) love watching two girls make out. But for whatever reason, straight girls generally don’t get off on seeing two men taste each other’s saliva.” (@queerty)

Real World XXIII: Washington DC – MTV Shows

ALSO: Remember Andrew, the comic-artist-who-is-clearly-still-a-virgin? Among his other endearing qualities, Andrew has “admitted that he had been fired from his college newspaper for drawing cartoons that were “purposely trying to offend women and lesbians.” Apparently “lying is kind of Andrew’s thing,” but really, which is worse? Making homophobic misogynistic cartoons, or saying you did just to sound cool? (@ohnotheydidn’t)

TEQUILA: It appears that a) Tila is scheduled to appear on Larry King Live on January 12, where she will talk about Casey through a medium other than Twitter as a tribute, and b) the Johnson family is doing everything they can to get the appearance canceled. “The Johnsons just want Tila to go away,” a source told the publication. “They’re in mourning. She is the last thing they want to deal with right now.” Oh and you know what’s really awesome? Heavy.com has placed bets on which girl from the “hollywood lesbo deathfest” is gonna die next! GO WORLD! (@aceshowbiz)

OUR LIVES: Did you read the item above with more interest than you really want to admit? Are you struggling with why this story means so much to you when, realistically, it doesn’t mean anything to you at all? Then you need to read Riese’s piece on what the aftermath of Casey and Tila’s relationship tells us about the state of being gay in the US. THIS IS IMPORTANT, Y’ALL.

KE$HA/GAGA Jezebel asks: If 2010 is supposed to be “the return of the female pop star rivalry,” is it going to be the year of Ke$ha vs. Gaga? Ke$ha did just break Gaga’s download record, with 610,000 copies of “TiK ToK” being downloaded as compared to 419,000 copies of “Just Dance.” What do you think? While you’re reflecting, we give you one person’s opinion:

You know what would settle this once and for all is if Gaga played Dinah Shore this year instead of Ke$ha! (@jezebel)

Tila Tequila Taking a Shot at Lesbian Marriage with Heiress Girlfriend

TILA: Tila announced to her fans that she and her girlfriend, Johnson & Johnson heiress Casey Johnson, are tying the knot, announcing on her UStream vlog: “This is exclusive and going to be all over the news tomorrow … tonight, my girlfriend has asked me to marry her!”

She must’ve just visited Alice in Lesbo-Land, because she knows all the lingo and has announced, “We’re what you call U-Haul lesbians, where you meet and fall in love and move in the next day and have kids.” No word regarding if Tila does or does not know about Prop 8, DOMA, and other legislation preventing her from actually getting married. Maybe she can get her MySpace friends to um, get some laws changed!

LOHAN: Once again, we must cut through the riff-raff surrounding our misunderstood imaginary friend Lindsay Lohan, who has been headlined as sending a “flirty” twitter message to Jessica Alba’s husband “An hour after Cash, 30, commented on a Los Angeles Lakers basketball game on Friday night, Lindsay wrote him a message.” What was this message?

‘Are you at game too? Watching it, wishing I went!’

HELLO MAYBE LINDSAY JUST LIKES BASKETBALL, but I don’t think that shit is flirting. No but really, maybe she’s just lonely and wants attention and her life sucks right now and she doesn’t know what to say or do when she’s alone and not in front of people, because someone has to hear the treegirl falling in the woods.

Also, I think it’s funny that LiLo’s alleged romance wish Cash is based on “unconfirmed reports” that they “separately left an office building possibly after a meeting” and US Weekly‘s “alleged” report that the duo kissed at Hollywood nightclub Villa, and that a day after exchanging tweets about an upcoming project, “reportedly ‘ignored friends and just chatted’ for half an hour in the club before allegedly getting closer,” according to… nobody? Also, pal apparently told Us: ‘Lindsay becomes easily attached to everyone she meets and gets close to.’  Even if that last part is true (and it very well may be) it’s hardly the subject of a gossip column, it’s just sort of sad and I mean that in the most empathetic way possible.

The only confirmed quote in this entire freaking article is, Lindsay saying: ‘That is absurd. He is married. I wouldn’t dare kiss him.”

But really he most disturbing part of this article is the last part, claiming that “Jessica is currently filming the Meet The Fockers sequel in LA.” Another? Really? That’s what the world needs right now.

RACHEL: Rachel Maddow got wasted with Jimmy Fallon before kicking Rich Cohen’s ass. She really can do everything!

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: The Boss has spoken out in favor of gay marriage! I urge those who support equal treatment for our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters to let their voices be heard now.

MALEX: Mischa Barton on her many lesbian roles: “It’s so much easier to kiss another girl. You’re so much more relaxed filming and you can have a laugh. It can get a bit tense with a guy.”

ELLEN VON UNWERTH: An interview with our second-favorite photographer of all time, Ellen Von Unwerth. (@dazeddigital)

THREE RIVERS: A little late to the game, but a cute writeup about Kate Moennig on Three Rivers: “I purposely took this job to get far away from Shane. I’d like to believe that within time, the proof will be in the pudding, and they’ll be able to see the difference and accept it.” (@whirl)

THEATRE: A review of “She Likes Girls” at The New York Times: The good: “Ms. Hutchinson, who has a sharp ear for dialogue (most of her best lines can’t be printed here), gets many things right.” The Bad: “It’s a tidy downbeat ribbon tied around the messy particulars of a life that Ms. Hutchinson has entered into so imaginatively. Bang, bang. Play over.” The Ugly: “a health teacher’s lecture involving a banana and a condom”

VAMPIRES: “True Blood” gets a ‘possible lesbian relationship’ (@rabid doll)

SANTA CLAUS: Focus on the Family is furious about “Santa Claus is Coming Out” – a) This play sounds hilarious and awesome “By using an imaginary icon, we can explore how people would react if a real superstar, such as a politician, athlete, or leading man in Hollywood came out of the closet. Given the stereotypes and prejudice against GLBT people, this is a legitimate subject well worth exploring.” b) Why is a Christian group so worried about Santa Claus? He’s not the reason for the season, y’all.(@fncp

RIHANNA: Rihanna wants to be a Lesbian Vampire Killer – “I’d love to be an assassin. Either that or a lesbian. Maybe both! Hey, a gay assassin, there’s nothing hotter than that. Megan Fox would play my girlfriend – hands down. She’s yummy. She’s hot. All humans are born with the ability to be attracted to both sexes. I mean, I could see myself in a relationship with a girl.” (@411mania)

BIG SCARY SEX: The title of this article is “Let the Fisting Begin.” I am not making this up – “[Hollywood’s] sauntered so far down the “freaky sex dungeon” trail that “fisting” has literally been left in the rearview mirror as mere child’s play.” (@big hollywood)

And ladies, don’t forget that Better Off Ted premieres tonight at 9:30 on ABC!

CBS Says “Three Rivers” Future Uncertain, Now Shane Can Be With Carmen Again 4Evs

THREE RIVERS: Much like Shane’s tenure as the bro-mother of Shay-the-Milkshake-Eater, the lifespan of Three Rivers was shorter than perhaps its creators expected, and no iPods traded hands this time: “CBS announced today that Three Rivers, the Alex O’Loughlin drama about transplant surgeons, has been pulled from the schedule indefinitely and that reruns of NCIS: Los Angeles will take its place Sundays at 10 pm beginning Dec. 6. A CBS spokesman said the freshman drama will remain in production – the network ordered 13 episodes – but that no decision has been made about its future.”

Yeah we heard that one before. CBS loves us, but it’s not IN love with us right? She’ll be back. They always come back. I mean, Three Rivers is currently ranked No. 45 among all primetime shows, which seems pretty high compared to all the shows in the world. There must be like a bajillion shows in the world.

No but for reals-reals, as of November 30th (yesterday!) they’re still casting for the 12th episode, so this shit ain’t over ’til it’s over. Has anyone been watching? DID CARMEN COME BACK?

TEGAN & SARA: It’s a new episode of our favorite webseries, “REFLECTIONS,” starring Tegan & Sara:

Reflections – Episode 5 from Tegan and Sara on Vimeo.

SINGLE MAN: Tom Ford’s new film A Single Man opens in a few weeks, and you could win tickets to a screening party in New York! Modern Tonic also has some passes to previews at theaters in most major cities. Isn’t that exciting? Don’t you want to see Colin Firth play gay? And that guy from Imagine Me & You is in it!

NEW MOON: There’s a lot of problems in the Twilight movie that have nothing to do with Mormons. (@ohnotheydidnt)

LADY GAGA: Is Lady Gaga a hermaphrodite is one of the most asked questions on the internet this year. Really you guys really. People are starving somewhere, I bet. Like Lindsay Lohan and Somalia. (@dailystar)

PETTY: Tom Petty told Rolling Stone that his father used to beat him because he assumed the singer was gay. Sounds like he was actually just kind of a cool kid. “Looking back on it, he probably was disappointed that I was so drawn to the arts,” the rocker added. “He probably thought I was gay. I wasn’t interested in sports. I didn’t know the names of any baseball players. I liked films and books and records.”

ANI: IT’S ANI DI-FUCKING-FRANCO ON THE VIDEO, “I’ve fallen in love with girls, and I’ve fallen in love with boys, and I’ve sung about the gender dynamics, the power dynamics, the queer dynamics against the overaching conform homogenous soicety anyone who is speaking to that and being free about it can probably connect with all kinds of people who share that same struggle.” (@out)

COULTER DOLLS: Ann Coulter and Dr. Laura Schlessinger have been made into Barbie-like dolls, just in time for the holiday season.That’s creepy on many levels. Howevs, you could do what many gay girls do with Barbies, i.e. take their clothes off

THE REAL WORLD: The Real World Washington DC is starting December 30th, and there is a gay in it but are there lesbians or not? That’s really all we need to know!

Lady Gaga and Barack Obama Will Have the Best HRC Dinner of All Time

PRESIDENT GAGA: Lady Gaga can do whatever the fuck she wants. First she’s going to drop Kanye from her tour. Then she’s going to attend the HRC dinner this weekend, where apparently President Obama will be speaking. Then she’s going to come down to DC and join the National Equality March, which Autostraddle will be at. That’s right. Lady Gaga is going to spend the weekend with Obama and Autostraddle. She’s going to have the best weekend ever. (@lez get real)

THE SHANE SHOW IS NOT AS GOOD AS THE FIRST SHANE SHOW: The Shane Show Three Rivers might run dry before Kate Moennig has a chance to get a new hairstyle (WIG  people it’s a WIG) — the ratings sucked last night, and at last one dude thinks it should be canceled immediately. We tried to watch it for The Shane Parts, but there’s nothing worth saying, really.

Well, there’s this: because of recasting and re-uniforming (the old ones were WAY sexier), they premiered Three Rivers with Episode 2, rather than Episode One, therefore leaving out the actually interesting character development elements necessary to care even remotely about this totally medicore show. I shared some of the pilot’s script with you a few months ago (Three Rivers Spoilers #1, Three Rivers Spoilers #2), if you’d like to begin filling in the blanks.

This is Papi, cramping Shane’s style by not wanting her Dad the vegetable to donate his organs to the dying people at Three Rivers. Anyhow, here’s a snippet from the Three Rivers CBS Fan Forum (to whomever wrote: “SHANE. OBVS” we know you are one of us and we salute you!)

Look the show wasn’t exactly awesome, but Kate was great, even if Haviland insists she looks just like Erin Daniels the whole time.

We Love You Forever No Matter What

DEXTER: Autostraddle recaps DEXTER, and begins Autostraddle Dexter Study Club!

TEGAN AND SARADORABLE: The Quin Twins don pirate aprons and make ink blots. Lots of them, which will be sold to a limited number of fans when they preorder Sainthood, which by the way, is a mere 21 days from release. (@tegan and sara)

READ A F*CKING BOOK: Because you’re literate. With the upcoming releases of adapted screenplays like Where the Wild Things Are and The Lovely Bones, you’re going to want to know which books to read so you can talk about how they were so much better than the movie. Also on the list is Derby Girl, the inspiration for Whip It! See? Reading is totally homosexy. (@cinema blend)

WHIP IT! Eclipse It! Did anyone else not know this was going on? Drew Barrymore was reportedly supposed to follow up her leztastic directorial debut with…the third installment of the Twilight series? Well, she decided not to, and she’s happy, and we’re happy and everyone go see Whip It! for the fourth time now. Break! (@eclipse movie)

However, why didn’t Whip It bring in more bank?: Everyone we know in the whole world went to see it and liked it. Except me, because clearly I am part of the problem here. On the upside, I can assure you I did not see Zombieland either.

GIRL POWER:Top Five Girl Power Movies: “I realize I am a dude, meaning I’m hardly an authority on what women want at the multiplex — and yet I do find it curious that I can think of dozens (if not hundreds) of films about groups of guys bonding in situations (like combat, cattle drives, casino heists, etc.) where romance is secondary (if not completely irrelevant) to the main plot, whereas films about females bonding over anything but romantic travails are few and far between.”

Are You Ready (For the World to Change)? I Don’t Think You’re Ready : Sunday Funday Daily Fix

Today on Autostraddle…
Firstly! Robin is shooting/interviewing totally amazing ripped super-athlete super-hero USA Women’s Rugby Player Phaidra Knight this Tuesday, and she’s taking YOUR questions about health & fitness! Wanna know what to eat or how to work out? Email robin@autostraddle.com with “health question” in the subject line!

Also Monday IS THE MOST IMPORTANT DAY EVER … the redesign! Bear with us as Autostraddle might look funny today — e.g., the navigation is all over the place. So, avoid confusion and look at the Fall Preview 2009 Guide for a run-down of what we’ve done recently, and read the Televisionary too!

Also please give us money! As you’ll see tomorrow, we have big dreams, and dreams & revolutions aren’t free or self-sustaining.  Thank you.

TRANS PANIC: “A boy aged 12 turned up at school as a GIRL, after changing sex during the summer holidays … Angry parents told yesterday how their kids were left tearful and confused after school staff announced the boy pupil was now a girl.” Hey! Parents! WTF IS UP WITH YOUR KIDS? If your kids are crying ’cause this “boy” is now wearing pigtails, your kid has some serious emotional issues and has already been gender-socialized (probs by you) to a frightening degree. They need to suck it up and grow some balls! (HAHAHA!) No but really. The headline might make your anti-gaydar rumble too. (@the sun uk)

WHIP HER: Drew Barrymore didn’t show up for her Whip It! press junket. She was out with Amanda Seyfried, not Ellen Page. WTF.

FACEBOOK GAYS: The whiz-kids at MIT have done Project Gaydar and discovered: “Using data from the social network Facebook, they made a striking discovery: just by looking at a person’s online friends, they could predict whether the person was gay. They did this with a software program that looked at the gender and sexuality of a person’s friends and, using statistical analysis, made a prediction.” [Um, how about the “In a relationship with” part? Or the “is a fan of The L Word” or “is a fan of autostraddle?” I didn’t even go to MIT guys, I just know this stuff.]

GAY PANIC TV: The Office can do no wrong, which was further re-proven on Thursday’s premiere and it’s excellent comedic handling of the mistaken-for-gay plot — a familiar one in TV Sitcom Land: The Office Premiere and the History of TV Men Mistaken For Gays.

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Teacher Learns There’s a Thin Line Between ‘Lesbian Love Affair’ & Assault Charges. Also: Muppets, Guitars & Puppies!

Yesterday we posted a new DIY series “YourSpace” where Laneia gives excellent DIY tips for your home, dorm, apartment, workspace, or treehouse!

Wednesday we dropped our Fall Music Preview ’09: Where Crystal and Emily discuss hotly anticipated releases from La Roux, Tegan & Sara, Basement Jaxx, Jay-Z and more.

The Tuesday Televisionary was all about True Blood Ending Underwhelmingly, Glee Beginning Showmantically, and Hot Girls Outlasting the VMAs.

Check out our Fall Preview 2009 Guide to see what’s happened and what you can look forward to!

The Fall coverage thus far includes: Fall Books, Fall TV, The Fall Excitantcy Matrix and the Biggest Event of Fall — The National Equality March.

Yesterday’s Fix features Ilene Chaiken, Debt Collectors, High School Principals, EllDrew, Lady Gaga & Homophobic Actors Defy Expectations.

KELLY CLARKSON: Last night Kelly Clarkson & Melissa Etheridge performed together at the VHI Divas, singing “Somebody Bring Me Some Water,” it was hot and totally gay. Also, Paula Abdul dressed up as Ellen, I suppose to make fun of Ellen taking her spot on Idol, and I don’t know, the world has just been really weird lately.

SEX, LIES, AND GENDER: National Geographic’s new documentary, Sex, Lies, and Gender, is very timely and very compelling. Watch the replay on Saturday, then make someone close-minded and ignorant watch it. Change the world, etc. [Laneia says: “Saw this Tuesday night — loved it. <3 Josie!”]

THREE RIVERS: Look it’s a Kate Moennig interview!!!

Not a good day for lesbians and those posing as lesbians in the scandalous crimey part of the newspaper …

TEACHER-STUDENT LESBIAN AFFAIR: In The Toronto Star’s report of a teacher-student lesbian love affair (@The Star) we learn that 39-year-old Leslie Merlino’s track towards her now-ruined career began three years ago when she began her relationship with a then 17-year old student (16 is the age of consent, unless the assaulter is in “a position of trust or authority.”) Merlino pled guilty to common assault in ’06 — the girl herself did not press charges (we assume her parents did) — for stroking the girl’s hair during a class trip to Europe, an action which apparently kick-started the relationship. By all accounts, Merlino was one of the best teachers at her school. Edge Boston asked:  Was it indeed a tragic tale of doomed love? Or an inexcusable violation of a teacher’s sacred trust to maintain proper boundaries with a young person in her charge? Or both?

Well. After Merlino pled guilty to The Hairstroking Incident and cinched her spot on the Ontario Sex Registry for the next 20 years, the student then re-initiated the affair herself (@edgeboston) despite Merlino being ordered to stay away from her. There’s no excuse, of course, for teachers to have relationships with teenage students, Merlino’s at fault, and we also don’t doubt the 17-year-old was in love.  The Star reports that the girl, now 20, has written the following in her “25 Things About Me” on Facebook (sidenote: love it when old media tries to incorporate facebook into its journalism): “Sometimes, I freak out, that I made a mistake. And I shouldn’t be with the person I’m with. Other times, I don’t know how we’ve managed to spend so much time apart.”

But, to address Edge Boston’s question, there’s just a few things about the treatment of the case in The Star‘s article that seem off to us.

Many argue that female offenders get lighter sentences than men, which they claim an unfair double standard — but, when the “victim” is above the age of consent, how do we apply “politically correct” gender-blind laws to a politically incorrect incredibly gendered reality? A few key differences between this case and similar cases with a male teacher: First, the physical male body poses threats to a young female which an adult female body cannot, opening the door for a stronger consideration of fear-tactics and manipulation when considering the male teacher’s effect on a female student. Secondly, a female teenager can, presumably, date male teenagers rather than male teachers. Of course, a female teenager under the law isn’t assumed to have agency regardless of the teacher’s gender. But a young gay woman who doesn’t know any other gay women and who’s parents clearly don’t approve? Perhaps it’s not only her teacher putting her between a rock & a hard place, but society itself.

What do you think, are we crazy to desire nuance here or wonder if there’s more to the story than meets the eye? Here’s a similar case.

PERV POSES AS LESBIAN: Oh yeah then also this man poses as cancer-stricken 18-year-old lesbian to lure girls on social networking websites to give him photos for his spank bank. Yeah, really. That actually happened.

YES!: Can A Man Be A Feminist? “So, can they? Can men be effective advocates for feminism? Given that men are voters, bosses, dads, teachers, friends, and partners, and that they still have more than their share of influence over policy in this country, we better hope the answer is yes.” (@jezebel)

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Unnecessarily Obsessed with Kate Moennig’s Haircut, Gender Norms, Drew & Ellen, Sex Toys: Daily Fix

Tuesday Televisionary was right on time bitches: True Blood Ends Underwhelmingly, Glee Begins Showmantically, Hot Girls Outlast the VMAs.

Check out our Fall Preview 2009 Guide to see what’s happened and what you can look forward to! Our Fall Music Preview is coming today, we’ve also got Fall Books, Fall TV, The Fall Excitantcy Matrix and the Biggest Event of Fall — The National Equality March.

Yesterday’s Fix: Debating Lady Gaga’s Genius, D.C.’s Gay Marriage Bill, Kelly Clarkson’s Not-Gayness … Gay ‘Freaks’ vs. Teabagger Freaks?

THREE RIVERS: E-Online says that we should “look out” for Kate Moennig’s Miranda to be “the spunkiest, most determined and vulnerable surgeon we’ve seen since Susan Lewis on ER.” With each additional promo picture, Three Rivers yanks dear Shane a.k.a. Kate Moening further from our alternatively lifestyle haircutted grasp. Intern Laura has made this graphic for us of “Miranda Foster” strolling urgently through the hallway with a jean-jacketed Miranda Foster hovering angelically in the distance, which is confusing, but also brilliant:

Riese made this graphic of the ID photo recycled from Kate ’05 [yeah, she already knew exactly what photoshoot the ID photo was from, b/c that’s what you do in 2005 when you are discovering your sexuality via Kate Moennig fansites], clearly our priorities in life are curious but graphical:

Oh and just one more thing? We also made this (it wasn’t a BIG news day necessarily)

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Autostraddle’s Big Gay Fall 2009 TV Preview: Get Ready to LOL!

Ah, fall. My favorite season. Crisp air, layered clothing, sweaters (it’s like wearing a hug all day! tm Carlytron), and fall television — the most robust and interesting of all the television seasons! We here at Autostraddle are super excited about fall! So many things are going on! But for now, we’re going to talk about “the teevee,” as Riese likes to call it. So please sit back and relax while we tell you what is worth watching this fall!

Basically, we looked at the shows that were generating a lot of buzz all over the internets and then we tried to find a way to talk about them that would be somehow different from the 385 other Fall TV Previews out there already. We figured the best way to do that was with our sparkling, charming personalities (aside from Tinkerbell, it’s all we’ve got).

So we held a mini roundtable and broke the schedule down to tell you why you might care about these new shows and how we feel about them ourselves. This lunacy was patiently edited by Interns Emily and X, and for that we are eternally grateful (other intern shoutouts go to Lola, Vashti, and Laura! Hey girl hey!). If you loved The Autostraddle L Word Recaps, you will love our chat!

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Behind the Scenes of Three Rivers, Levi’s Life With Mrs. Palin and Rachel Maddow’s Swine Flu: Daily Fix

New for today: The Autostraddle Roundtable tackles the big ENCHILADA … HealthCare!

Also remember when we asked you to tell us what you expected from The L Word Reality Show? Sure you do, it was like two days ago! Well, an unbiased team of Interns have knocked their heads together and chosen a winner …

Katie: “On the real L Word, they better have some fucking sippy cups.”

Runners-up include:
Sapphicsass for,”On The Real L Word, Sounder eats Betty… then has to regurgitate her because he hates the taste of bullshit”

and

bcw: “on the real L word, flowers won’t sing while alice cries. and betty won’t sing at all.”
Stay tuned for a special post all about it! And Katie, email alex at autostraddle dot com with your mailing address.

Also Lesbian Radio said they were gonna talk about us last night and are now eagerly awaiting the podcast so we can hear ourselves get talked about! And Papi!

Also, read the Tuesday Televisionary thank you!!!

THREE RIVERS: Behind the scenes of the Three Rivers photoshoot – nice looking people in scrubs pretend to run while holding coolers filled with human hearts & Capri Sun. Kate Moennig looks like … um … an actress at work doing her job! Take off your clothes, Shane!

STUPID PEOPLE RUIN EVERYTHING: Surprise! Stupid people are against same-sex marriage, and smart people are for it. Actually honestly I think with the exception of apparently Barack Obama, that statement needs little else said. (@queerty)

HEALTH CARE: How I got well in India for $50 -My cheap, fast and effective treatment in New Delhi reminded me of everything wrong with American healthcare. (read our roundtable about it!)  — It is remarkable that the healthcare system of the world’s most powerful country has anything at all in common with the healthcare system of an emerging industrial nation, and so little in common with the systems of the other Western democracies. (@salon) (more…)

National Gay Equality March Needs a PR Makeover & Kelly Clarkson Needs a Facially Haired Dream Date

This just freshly posted: Laneia showed us how to make your own cute clay magnets for your fridge!

What are you doing this weekend? The Autostraddle Scavenger Hunt? Obviously! If you want a shot at some truly kickass prizes, your entries are due Monday so keep ’em coming!

Speaking of taking photos of fun summertime activities, our photoblogger Robin visits Provincetown, the gayest gay & lesbian vaycay spot in all the land, and takes some stunning photographs!

On Top Chef lesbian contestant Ashley finds the bachelorette party challenge “beyond comprehension,” and wasn’t shy about saying so. Fired up? Laneia tells you all about it.

+Life & Culture

BUTCH VOICES: NPR covers the four-day “Butch Voices” conference, a chance for men, women, and transgendered people to talk about what it means to be masculine — even if you’re not a man. Jezebel covers NPR’s coverage of the Butch Voices Conference and the breakdown is fascinating, w/r/t how “butches are not only expected to conform to stereotypes about masculinity — being “strong and silent” — but are vulnerable to a stereotype more traditionally associated with femininity as well,” and also checks out what the Butch Voices has to say about “butch intellectuals.'” (Rachel Maddow being the first famous butch intellectuals).

SEX: The Ex-Banker Living on Alcohol, Hookups, and Unemployment: I think maybe they just had Brett Easton Ellis make something up for this week’s sex diaries. (@nymag)

TECH: More images about Gender & Technology, including “If Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari, etc. was a woman” and a man choosing a Game Boy over the woman tied with legs spread on his bed. (@contexts)

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Three Rivers Promises Love Affairs and Lady Gaga is Controlling Your Mind

Happy Friday, weirdos! – Our fun “when I knew I was a lesbian” twitter game is still marching valiantly forward. Tell us “when YOU knew” you were queer by tweeting @autostraddle using the tag: #wheniknew. We’ll publish all on autostraddle on TOMORROW.

Got more to say? You can also enter by e-mailing your (400-word or less) story to wheniknew [at] autostraddle dot com. Deadline for the stories is Saturday August 8th at midnight EST! We’ll publish some and two lucky sharers will get prizes that include the ellusive Really Papi T-shirt and a book of hot lesbian erotica.

Anyhow! Back to things you DO know, lesbians & allies! We proceed valiantly forward with our ‘When I Knew I Was Gay‘ series with a this-just-in Part Three! First catch up on Part One and Part Two, which kicked ass.

Also, Jeanine won ‘So You Think You Can Dance.’ And to that we say — hey! We totally called it in our Wednesday Televisionary! Yay Jeanine!

TEGAN & SARA: Project Report on Tegan & Sara with lots of photos!

THREE RIVERS: Alex O’Laughlin is interviewed about his new show Three Rivers which also stars lesbian lady-lover Shane (Kate Moennig): “We have tight scrubs. We have wet skin when we scrub in. We make eyes at each other over the operation table. There’s going to be lots of love affairs and stuff like that would happen in a real hospital. It’s going to be really exciting.”

AUTOSTRADDLE: Riese, CEO of Ideas for Autostraddle is interviewed over at Talk With Tim. It’s the best interview of all time, if you don’t read it and stuff you’re gonna regret it!

LADY GAGA IS CONTROLLING YOUR MIND: Lady Gaga is a poster-girl for Illuminati mind control, a puppet who embody exactly what the public represents in the eyes of the elite: mindless drones, mannequins, remote controlled robots, hypnotized degenerates incapable of thinking coherently. Whether she’s a willing actor or a result of Monarch programming is up for debate but the large-scale impact of such stars is a bigger issue. Her persona and symbols are projected to the world and are part of the world-wide programming project the media corporations are conducting to mold young minds.

BOIS BOIS BOIS: Something is just funny about the way this drag king article is written. Like check out this sentence: “And that is what she wants. She is a lesbian and wants to be desired by the same sex and finds that she is very comfortable dressing as a man, even offstage … But Maksimuk wants to set the record straight (no pun intended) — dressing up in drag isn’t about sexuality, it is about gender identity.” (more…)

Daily Fix: Three Rivers Spoilers, Jill Sobule Kissed a Girl First & Some Lovely Lovely Bones

What’s today on Autostraddle? Only the most important thing we’ve ever published! It’s from Laneia, and it’s here, in our first round of “When I Knew I Was a Gay” stories, in honor of Gayiversary week, which we just invented! Also, our incredible interview & photoshoot with Nicole Pacent & Rachael Hip-Flores of Anyone But Me.

Also, it’s Shark Week – time for our Tuesday Wednesday Televisionary!

If you think you have the cutest, most clever, briefest “When I Knew” story tweet it to @autostraddle with hash tag #wheniknew and you could win a prize and you will defo see your  name in lights on AS!

Announcement: We’ve been getting a LOT of interest from people wanting to be Autostraddle Interns! Although we’re not actively seeking new interns right now, there’s certainly upcoming work to be done in the army so let me give you the scoop: if you do want to be an intern, please email riese [at] autostraddle dot com AND brooke [at] autostraddle dot com with a resumè and a paragraph explaining why the hell you want to do this and how much time you can devote. Also! At this time we are only accepting interns who possses one or all of the following: 1) Impeccable spelling, grammar and copy-editing abilities, 2) marketing or business experience, 3) a huge pile of money, 4) incredible internet savvy — you know html, understand blogging platforms, read 10,000 websites a day and understand the psychology of Web 2.0.

For “1” or anyone who wants to be involved in the editorial side of things rather than business, marketing, giving us your money or web/design stuff, please also include two writing samples!

THREE RIVERS SPOILERS: Let’s play a game called Shane or Miranda (Kate Moennig’s new role in new CBS show Three Rivers), shall we? Here’s the speech: “I know you don’t want to talk, but I’ll tell you something about myself. When I was young, I had all sorts of problems with my parents. And I did some crazy stuff to get them to notice me. It didn’t change much, but a lot of what I did ended up hurting me … I don’t think you’re a freak. But I do think you need to talk to somebody about this.” (The giveaway here is that she’s not about to fuck the pain away from some hot young lady … she’s talking to a little boy in Three Rivers Episode #102, “Place of Life.” Git your head out of the gutter!)

GAGA: Beyonce And Lady Gaga Lead 2009 MTV VMA Nominees and Lady Gaga says: ”We believe in the immensity and the promise of ‘showbiz’ and will continue to give it mouth-to-mouth, till its vomiting return. All you need is a camcorder, a flashlight and one truly great idea. Thank you, MTV, for being our video flagship, and for supporting this bunch of inspired kids, who love to get wasted and make art together.” (@mtv)

HOPE WE CAN BELIEVE IN???: Hope and History: As a candidate Obama promised us a lot; as president he’s delivered very little—and many gay people are getting impatient. Does the outcry unmask this president’s indifference, or reveal our own impotence as a movement? (@advocate)

THEY CAN HAVE THEIR DIAMONDS AND WE’LL HAVE OUR “GIRLS“: I have been waiting for two years for Jill Sobule to raise some hell about the fact that she wrote “I Kissed a Girl” first. At last she lets loose in  The Rumpus Interview with Jill Sobule:

“So here goes, for the first time in an interview: Fuck you Katy Perry, you fucking stupid, maybe “not good for the gays,” title thieving, haven’t heard much else, so not quite sure if you’re talented, fucking little slut. God that felt good.”

IT’S THE LAW PEOPLE: Bar group urges equal benefits for same-sex pairs: The ABA House of Delegates approved Monday on a voice vote a resolution urging repeal of a portion of the federal Defense of Marriage Act that defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman. (@chicagotribune)

GAGA: Lady Gaga ‘Very Obsessed With Monsters And Playgirls,’ Not Feminism: She makes a great comment about sexuality and then follows that up with: ”I’m not a feminist – I, I hail men, I love men. I celebrate American male culture, and beer, and bars and muscle cars…”

(more…)

The Quakers, Madonna, Celebrity Trainwreck Gawkers & Naked Models Celebrate!

Whatever happened to J-Beals, Kate, MK, LuH, Leisha/UHH, Sarah “goddess of hotness” Shahi and the rest of the sprawling cast of The L Word? We know where they are, and you should too.

THREE RIVERS: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tours the set of Kate Moennig’s new show Three Rivers: “Odd, clingy scrubs that resembled “Star Trek” uniforms in the Pittsburgh pilot have been discarded in favor of more normal-looking scrubs.”

GAY MARRIAGE: American-Dutch gay couples wed in Amsterdam: Basically on all counts Amsterdam is funner, their parties are better, their drugs druggier and their homosexuals freer. What are we doing here.

REALITY TV IS HARD: As three-year confidentiality agreements expire, reality contestants are speaking out about their treatment on set, like 12-hour drinking parties without food before meeting the Bachelor, being sequestered from the world for three days before shooting began for Project Runway, Olympic-gymnast style, etc. “The bread and butter of reality television is to get people into a state where they are tired, stressed and emotionally vulnerable.”

GAY MARRIAGE POSITIVE: Quakers in the UK have approved same-sex marriage and called on the government to provide full and equal marriage rights to same-sex couples. “The society has already held religious blessings for same-sex couples who have had a civil partnership ceremony. But agreeing to perform gay marriages, which are currently not allowed under civil law, could bring the Quakers into conflict with the government.” (@timesonlineuk) [Fun fact – Riese is half quaker!]

DEGRASSI THE NEXT GENERATION: Christina Schmidt, a.k.a. Terri from Degrassi, has had enough of playing a plus-sized model on the teevee. Now she’s gonna do it in real life.

GET A JOB: Whatchu doing Tuesday? Well, if you’re in NYC, SEX AND THE CITY is seeking extras including Fashion Models, Upscale socialites, Urban Club goers, Gays and Lesbians, Professional Soccer Players.

VAMPIRES ARE SEXY: Somehow Uta of The L Word Season 3 is not included in Entertainment Weekly‘s list of hot vampires. Luckily it’s a long list so many others are. (@ew)

MADONNA: The trailer for Madonna’s new Greatest Hits album, Celebration!

FALL TEEVEE: Curve Magazine has put together a roundup of things lesbians should look forward to this autumn on the television.

LINDA’S FILM ABOUT MENSTRUATION: This 1974 video called Linda’s Film About Menstruation manages, in less than twenty entertaining minutes, to cover everything from ancient tribal taboos to the different types of tampons, including the now defunct “stick tampon.” (@jezebel)

WOMYN ON FILM: NPR analyzes women in today’s romantic comedies, e.g., The Proposal & The Ugly Truth – you never know if pop culture will be ahead of the times, or behind it. But where women are concerned: “Nobody gets ruder treatment than career women, who are routinely portrayed as bossy, uptight and utterly without personal lives. What they need, we’re supposed to think, is a man. But before they can get one, they must have a mortifying comeuppance.”

CELEBRITY DETOX: Why do we celebrate when an actress falls apart? And why oh why do we blame the actress herself? (@jezebel)

THE WAY THEY WERE: The New York Times Magazine talks to Anne Heche, who is allegedly “Playing it Normal Now.” On her breakup with Ellen: “I think people saw how hard it was for me. It’s what makes me the artist that I am, it’s my bag of sorrow, of human tragedy that I’ve lived through, and I go to this well every single time I create a character. But that no longer dictates my daily life.”

WE ARE ALL SPIES: “Peep culture involves watching and being watched, snooping and spying, gawking and gossiping; it means exposing our intimacies with an eye toward bonding with others and growing comfortable with the increasingly common slippage between public and private. Peep culture, like pop culture, informs the atmosphere — it is the atmosphere — in which we live. Writes Niedzviecki, “It’s like that famous line about pornography: you know it when you see it. And you do see it. All the time, everyday, everywhere.” (@salon)

GAGA: Lady Gaga pontificates how attending a music festival is suffering for your love of music, the good ole days with Lady Starlight (Rodeo Disco, holla!), straddles a motorcycle on stage wearing a 1-inch miniskirt, sans panties, and performs Money Honey.

Photo from our favorite photographer Ellen Von Unwerth’s Women in Love, with Jenny Shimizu and Maria Luisa.

Audacia Ray/Waking Vixen celebrates five years of blogging and 10 years of living in NYC with a dirty photo retrospective.

Newsweek asks: Is Polyamory “The Next Sexual Revolution”?

Club Sapphic.com is an all-girl erotica site where fans can watch real sex occur between beautiful, orgasmic women. All Club Sapphic models are truly bisexual and/or lesbian, and sex scenes are not choreographed or directed.

In celebration of their 300th birthday, i-D gets the birthday gift that keeps on giving … Naked Models!

nerve.com presents The Ancient Book of Sex and Science: So you’re a group of super-successful animators who work on Pixar films and your studio has recently become a subsidiary of notoriously conservative Disney. What do you do? Well, release a book of drawings called The Ancient Book of Sex and Science, Right?

Also, in today in Sex Ed: The Ottawa library defends the addition of racy sex guides to its collection. Canada: 100, USA: 0.

All Those Loving Laughing “L Word” Cast Members: Where Are They Now?

While holding court at BlogHer last week, Ilene Chaiken once again blessed her flock with promises of eternal life & salvation via The L Word Movie, which she is currently writing. Also, BETTY, the band responsible for that horrid song, is playing the Highline Ballroom in September. Now that we’ve gotten the people we don’t care about out of the way, what’s the rest of the cast up to these days? Autostraddle has the answers. [Sidenote: if you see that we left something out, comment and let us know!]

Ilene Chaiken in a Straightjacket of Her Own Doing

The Cast of The L Word: Where Are They Now?

Jennifer Beals (Bette Porter)

– Photography Book documenting her time on The L Word to be released December 1, according to tibette.com.
– TV: Returning to Lie to Me on FOX in the fall in a recurring role as Lightman’s ex.
– Movie: Jennifer has a small role in The Book of Eli with Denzel Washington to be released Jan 2010.
–Interview: Runner’s World, May 2009 – “I’m a Runner.”
– Out & About: Attended Stonewall anniversary at the White House w/Obama on June 30 (photo). Also at Marlee Matlin’s Hollywood Square dedication ceremony (below).

Jennifer Behind the Camera at Marlee Matlin’s Hollywood Stars ceremony

Kate Moennig (Shane McCutcheon)

–Movie: Plays “Jilly” in Everybody’s Fine with Robert DeNiro, Kate Beckinsale, Melissa Leo and Drew Barrymore, coming out in December ’09.
– Interview: Appeared on final episode of This Just Out with Liz Feldman; aired July 20, where she met Liz’s Mom who has a gigantoid crush on her.
– Twitter: @katemoennig.
– Television: Leading role in a new show, Three Rivers on CBS in the fall. Kate will play “Miranda Foster,” (more about her character here) a feisty and fearless and slightly damanged doctor at an organ transplant clinic named or her late father, where she will be looking sexy/dramatic and emoting slightly formulaic lines about “the good of the patient” while wearing scrubs, and, it appears, a lot of puffy jackets. Filming for Three Rivers will begin in August in Pittsburgh Los Angeles (according to inside sources, the show is filmed in LA and the Pittsburgh shooting is just for exteriors/B-roll) though exact dates have not yet been set. From what we’ve seen of the new script it would seem that Miranda’s character is slightly less hot-blooded than she was in the original pilot except where the patient is concerned and then she is very passionate.
– ETA 8.1.09: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette does a set visit and discusses the re-shooting of the pilot, which will star Alfre Woodard rather than Julia Ormond (We love Alfre Woodard and are actually slightly more excited for the show now). Interesting tidbits include: “Odd, clingy scrubs that resembled “Star Trek” uniforms in the Pittsburgh pilot have been discarded in favor of more normal-looking scrubs.”
– Updates per always are at the kate moennig fansite.

Kate in “Three Rivers,” Shane would hate this haircut

Mia Kirshner (Jenny Schecter)

– Television: guest starred on A&E’s The Cleaner on July 14 as “April May,” a “talented, troubled, rebellious and slightly immature singer, who has difficult managing her new status as a hot mess paparazzi bait.” (photo from The Cleaner, right)
– Radio: will become a permanent guest commentator on Air America’s new radio show Hollywood! CLOUT, which combines politics with Hollywood. Hosted by Richard Greene from 9-11pm daily, Mia will appear as the “social and international issues” commentator every Wednesday
– Giving Back: In conjunction with the publication of her book I Live Here, which examines the lives of refugees and displaced people in four corners of the world with all profits benefiting relief efforts, Mia hosted an Operation USA fundraising event in June and continues to work with visibility and relief organizations.

Laurel Holloman (Tina Kennard)

– Out & About: Last public appearance was at the Bravo A-List Awards in April, accepting the award for best sex scene for Bette & Tina.
– Television: She will appear in an episode of Castle airing September 21st for a one-episode spot as “Sandy Allen”:

[SANDY ALLEN] Female, late 30s, she is informed by the police that her husband has been murdered. She lives on the Upper East Side in a middle-class co-op.

– Interview: Told Netscape Celebrity that she is taking some down-time after The L Word to be with her daughter: “My baby is still a year old. I want to be with her all the time, but I’m out there looking for the right thing. We’ll see what happens. I think when you’re on a series for a long time, it might need to die down for a little while. I think it’s easy to get worried about what’s going to come up and then you take the wrong thing so I’m trying to be smart.”
–Online: The new officially endorsed LaurelHolloman.net fansite has launched! You can ask Laurel questions, donate to Doctors Without Borders and look at her beautiful face there whenever you want!

Leisha Hailey (Alice Pieszecki)

– Television: Appeared in a small role in the Lifetime mini-series, Maneater (Carly recaps here)
– Twitter: Leisha & Cam both use twitter @uhhuhhermusic
– UHH: working on the next Uh Huh Her album right now (yay!) (lots of photos on myspace!)
-playing the Bumbershoot Festival September 5th in Seattle, Washington.
– Latest Leisha updates can always be found at Uh Huh Her fan.

Rachel Shelley (Helena Peabody)

– Life: Also pregnant — if she was 5 months preggers in March, I think that means she must be giving birth right about now?
– Magazines: Writes a monthly column for Diva magazine: in August she wrote about how all the girls from The L Word are pregnant and in July covered the joys of working with women and in May discussed attitudes about sex. Also in May, Rachel Shelley interviewed Alex Hedison in Diva Magazine: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4.
– Out and About: Will be appearing at The L Word Down Under convention in January 2010, in Australia!

Sarah Shahi (Carmen de La Pica Morales)

– Movie: Plays “Carla” in Untitled Beatle Boyin Project – in production, with Jeffrey Dean Morgan, release date: 2010
– Television: Her show, Life, on NBC was recently cancelled after 2 seasons
– Life: Married long time boyfriend, Steve Howey, in Vegas recently.
– Life: Is pregnant and due in Summer 2009 (on facebook says she had a baby boy on July 9th – William Wolf Howey, but this hasn’t been confirmed).
– Out & About: Photo from May 27th, 2009 at the Giggles n’ Hugs Mommy & Me event in California.

NEXT: Papi, Dawn Denbo, Jodi Lerner, THE LYNCH and more continue to do no wrong …

Daily Fix: Texas Mayor Chooses Boyfriend over Job, Kate Moennig Picks Scrubs over Girlfriends

Today on Autostraddle: Autostraddle Roundtable we tell you all of our feelings about Sexuality! And G-D! And everything! Autostraddle Team Member Crystal’s first dispatch from Sydney’s lesbian nightlife is one of my favorite things we’ve published here, and also check out a sneak peak of our NewNowNext photos, Riese & Laneia read YA novels AND AND AND …

Our latest Girl-on-Gallery is Part One of Two – Actual Lesbians/Bisexuals! (It’s alphabetical by first name, A-L is this week, let us know if we’re missing anyone!)

+ Did you hear the one about the Texas mayor who quit his job for love? See, Mayor J.W. Lown of San Angelo fell for a man — a Mexican illegal immigrant. Because same-sex marriage isn’t recognized anywhere for immigration purposes, Lown either had to give up the man, or give up the office: (more…)

Daily Fix – Three Rivers Run Through It

Today on Autostraddle: Our recap & video from yesterday’s anti-gay marriage rally is obvs not-to-be missed because not only do we interview our favorite person of the week Dan Choi but we also talked to the anti-gays! Also check out our new feature Girl-on-World, featuring a wild Berlin trip to see Metric and our Autostraddle Roundtable on Who’s Really Hot Right Now? (Besides our Hot 100, obvs).

Kate Moenning will be on your TV! (probs wearing more clothing than she did on The L Word) because Alex O’Loughlin’s ‘Three Rivers’ is among anticipated CBS pickups: “In a weekend filled with the broadcast networks furiously renewing shows and greenlighting new fall series, Variety is reporting that CBS, which will officially unveil its fall 2009 line-up on Wednesday in New York City, has given the OK to five new dramas: The Good Wife, starring Julianna Margulies; Three Rivers, starring Moonlight alum Alex O’Loughlin…” (@ ew.com/Entertainment Weekly) (more…)

Daily Fix: High Holidays & Miss California is Smoking Somethin’

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OMG we’re only like 12 hours away from our big moment with Mama Chaiken herself. A;ex and I are full of ideas that we’ll never actually put into action for the Times Talks Panel tonight. Intern Xandra, however, made the best proposal of all — we’ll throw a shoe at her! We’re willing to accept the night in jail … but what if the shoe hits J-Beals in the face? We can’t have that!  Got any questions for us to ask Ilene while dodging Nerf bullets? Here’s what the panel is about, I’ve added my notes:

Meet the creator and executive producer of Showtime’s award-winning lesbian drama, “The L Word” [in case you forgot WTF Ilene did for that show] along with cast member Jennifer Beals. The show, completing its sixth and final season with an intriguing totally dubious and ridiculous “whodunit” plot twist, was the first to portray the lives of gay women characters in an ongoing television series, and then continue for four additional years portraying the lives of bizarre medical anomalies and OurChart ad-salesmen. Hear how it broke new ground [and hymens] for those involved in the show as well as for the lesbian community, its impact on television, media, current events and pop culture – and what’s coming next for them all.

New potential problem: Reader Nicole has alerted us that some Tibetters will be arriving six hours early — I hope they have a lot of security at this event … or do I? (more…)

Weekend Fix – Girls, Girls, Girls

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Welcome to Your Weekend Fix. Check out our new facebook page set up by Intern Vashti (become a fan!).

Guess what! They fixed Lezberado so you can watch it now even if you’re a Canuck or Welsh Person. And if you want more Lezberado, your wish may be granted — I’m supposed to be giving Showtime a list of ideas any minute now but so far I don’t have any ideas. Anyone have an idea for what I could talk about in my room besides The L Word. Anyone? Bueller? Pleeeezzzeee.

Three Rivers, the CBS pilot starring many people including Kate Moennig (formerly known as Shane on The L Word) is now filming in Pittsburgh, go stalk Shane! (Thanks to Jaime for the tip.)

1. OMG! A girl is gonna have a “sexuality crisis” on an ABC Family TV show, says TV Guide: “Greek Star Pledges Big Twists (Including a Lesbian One)! Read the article and you might wonder if the biggest twist is how TV Guide got “lesbian” out of a few vague/removed/illusive suggestions.

2. Queerty’s advice: “do not let Sherri Shepard talk about women’s issues, let alone lesbian issues.” Here’s the video: (more…)

The One Where I Cover all The L Word Stuff At Once: SCOOP on Kate’s Three Rivers pilot, New Lezberado, Interrogation Tapes, etc.

1. The L Word is Life Goes On … Round-up:

Kate Moennig/”Shane”: This morning The Hollywood Reporter reported that Julia Ormond will be playing the head of surgery at Three Rivers Hospital in the CBS-commissioned pilot Three Rivers. Ormond will be working alongside actors Alex O’Loughlin, Christopher J. Hanke, Justina Machado, Daniel Henney and YOUR FAVORITE ANDROGYNOUS STAR OF STAGE & SCREEN Katherine Moennig. The one hour pilot will film in Pittsburgh and if it gets picked up will continue filming in LA I believe.

EXCLUSIVE! (if you re-post this information obtained directly from Autostraddle, please credit the source (autostraddle) or Shane will hunt you down and cut your tits off, and — BONUS! — if/when things change you can hold my ass accountable instead of yours): Pilots often undergo massive revisions and restructures before getting picked up, let alone on air and commissioned for additional episodes [you may recall Pam Grier’s initial role on The L Word — initially known as Earthlings — was a lesbian who videotaped everything and had the chart tattooed on her back]– but as it currently stands, Kate’s role “Miranda Foster” is a surgical fellow at a organ transplant clinic — Pittsburgh’s William Foster Transplant Institute. Yep. That’s her Dad who was a great doctor with lots of Beliefs and then he died. Her Mom, it seems, is also not in the picture. [Shades of Grey’s, anyone?]. At the show’s start Miranda has just left her last gig on bad terms with the head of surgery who banished her from the OR ’cause of her fiery volatile personality and cursing/mouthing off during a procurement (Miranda blames this on a bad period following her Dad’s death, re-states desire to be a good doctor, also argues that she was right in the situation to be upset, puts the patient first at all costs, etc.). Miranda’s intelligence is appropriately shaded by an unshakable ethical core. She yells but it is for! the! good of the patient! Like Shane, Miranda is self-destructive and tattooed and loyal to the bone. Will Miranda be a return to the universe of heterosexual characters for the consistently gay-typecast Katherine Moennig? I really don’t know. The fact that I don’t know suggests that she’s gonna be a het. Or maybe a realistic bisexual character or something? OMG! THERE IS A UNICORN OUTSIDE MY WINDOW RIGHT NOW AND SHANE IS ON IT!

2. Jennifer Beals/Bette: will be joining the cast of Fox’s Lie to Me for a multi-episode arc as “an assistant U.S. attorney by the name of Zoe Landau” who hires her ex-husband (and father of her daughter) played by Tim Roth to help her with an arson case. Thanks to reader Nicole for the tip.

ETA: AUTOSTRADDLE REPORTS that Bette Porter fans can look forward to seeing Beals in another ball-busting quick-thinking role — always the first with a subtle dig, relentless in her dedication to her work and passionate in her beliefs (justice, privacy, self-sufficiency). Landau and her foil, “fib detector” Lightman, have lingering issues although Landau is now in a new serious relationship [with a man].

3. Leisha Hailey/Alice : will be playing at Dinah Shore with her kickass band Uh Huh Her . That’s all I got. Probs after that she’s coming over to hang out with me/feed me bananas, make videos with me, etc. I am going to ask Miss Cleo about this, but Showtime’s picked up a few new pilots and there’s still no word on The Farm . Personally, I actually don’t want it to be picked up. With all due respect, I don’t think we need more IC projects on our radar. I’d rather see our  “empty” canvas as “open” than have our little lesbian quota filled by another shitty show by the woman that fucked up the first time around. I’m willing to wait — we waited so long before, after all – for something that’s really good, rather than settling for this. Leisha’s a great musician, and I’d prefer another Uh Huh Her show, I always love those & feel somewhat changed by them. Or a really good show written by lesbians that told the way we actually lived and was also funny and sexy and smart. OMGUNICORN ALERT!

4. SPEAKING OF! Here we’ve got the latest episode of Showtime’s hit online television series Lezberado, starring me Riese as a girl named “Lezberado” who likes The L Word. I actually kinda love this episode and I think his editing is BRILL. I’m being serious. Also I was doing an imitation of Janet from Intervention reacting to the cancellation of The L Word in one part. Give it five stars!

ETA: International viewers — even dear Canadians — have reported difficulty viewing this video so I’ve talked to Showtime and they are looking into this problem — obvs, prior Lezberado eps haven’t been blocked internationally and this one isn’t supposed to be either. Check the comments for other tips on how to watch it from another country.

Here’s a viewer’s guide if you need assistance:

5. Some of y’all have asked me about the Interrogation Tapes — if I want to recap them, etc. Soooo … here’s the scoop: they kinda piss me off!

It’s like when you finally break up with your girlfriend, and then she starts doing all that shit she’d been incapable of doing while you were together and you’re like, “okay, so you could’ve done this all along but you just chose not to until the shit hit the fan?” I’m trying to send positive energy into the world and don’t wanna dwell on the negative but! Lord, it just feels like a The Farm commercial from Ilene for Showtime and the fans. It strikes me more as very clever marketing moreso than as actual entertainment or artistry.shaneshaneshane carmencarmen lezberadolezberdoesn’thavearingtoit.

6. Huzzah! Carlytron’s TV post will be up soon. You must must read green’s interview of Meaghan O’Malley of Queering Domesticity [I’m really into that stuff] and Stef’s latest SXSW update which’ll drop Tuesday at some point. Robin and Crystal on deck. It’s like the Olympics.

ALSO! Vermont voted in favor of the same-sex marraige bill – so the bill is moving on to the house! Thanks to Intern Vashti.

7. I will add to this post as new information rolls on in, so check back for this and the regular daily fix tomorrow.

American Sapphic

Breaking News! Shane has a show! We love the future!

The Hollywood Reporter reports that Kate Moennig has been cast in CBS’s transplant surgery pilot Three Rivers with Danny Henny and Alex O’Laughlin. The pilot will be filming in Pittsburgh, but if picked up the show will move to L.A.  Moennig will play a self-destructive lung/heart transplant fellow.

1. Ellen & Portia Change The World Day Four [sidenote: does anyone else remember when her show first started, how her contract barred her from discussing her sexuality? It was in her contract. There was a sudden noted change when that was lifted. I’m super curious about how that happened, and if it was public knowledge.]

• @jezebel: Portia on Leno: “When the Best Ammunition Against Bigotry is Simply Speaking Openly.”
• @365 gay: Can Ellen Change Hearts and Minds?
• @slate: Ellen on Ellen. (more…)