Who is the "most famous Lesbian in the world?"

[liamstliam]

The New York Times has an excellent analysis on where same-sex marriage stands, based on the appearance of Ellen DeGeneres and her partner Portia de Rossi, on Oprah.

I would have recommended it anyway, but I did have a little furrowing of the forehead when Ms. de Rossi was quoted as saying Ellen was "the most famous lebian in the world."

Here's the context:

A decade ago, she had trouble getting work, a development that she and many observers chalked up to her being “the most famous lesbian in the world,” as Ms. de Rossi described her on “Oprah.”

But now she’s on the cover of the current issue of O magazine, exclusive real estate usually inhabited by Ms. Winfrey alone. She’s a pitchwoman not only for American Express but also for Cover Girl makeup, a heartland product if ever there was one.

Now, observations aside, who do you think is the most famous Lesbian in the world.

(I think we can do this without getting too tied up in "Well, she's really bisexual," for whatever value of "she" we mean.)

Anyway, my immediate thought, being a man of a certain age, was Martina Navatrilova, the great tennis player.

Is it an age thing?

A "general public vs. those of us who know a lot of Lesbian/Bi folks" question?

Where does your mind go on this one?

Comments

[dreda.livejournal.com]

Ellen identifies as bisexual? That is new news to me.

(If people identify publically, I feel like all I can do is take them at face value. I would be curious to know where she's identified as bi, since she manages to do a fairly delicate dance about being obviously queer while very rarely saying the word "lesbian" or anything else.)

[tisiphone.livejournal.com]

She did when she first started dating women. I couldn't say whether she currently does, I don't really follow celeb gossip.

[dreda.livejournal.com]

Hunh - fascinating. I may do a little surfing around on this one - she may have elided it after so many years of being America's Lesbian, simply for the sake of being easily parsable.

[tisiphone.livejournal.com]

Well, everyone was going to call her a lesbian anyway. If I were her I'd probably go with it for the sake of my media career, too.

[dreda.livejournal.com]

And if asked now - well, why wouldn't she stick with her story, even if slightly elided? And if that's how her wife describes her, then I will defer to Portia. I have too much to do already correcting the people who keep calling me a lesbian.