Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allynne (Image via Facebook) 

Comedian and actor Tig Notoro posted on Facebook that she and wife Stephanie Allynne are expecting twins! Tig and Stephanie were married in October, 2015. Their relationship was documented on Tig’s documentary, which is available to watch on Netflix. The two started out as best friends and slowly fell for each other. Super sweet, best wishes to the happy couple! Read Tig’s Facebook announcement below:

“I am beyond excited to announce that Mrs. Notaro and I are expecting TWINS in the coming months!!!!!
Weeeeeeeee!!!!!
When Stephanie and I got together, after so much excessive travel and work, we imagined a life where we could eventually raise a family amongst our own family one day. Now it blows our minds that our dream has been realized over the past nearly 3 years in the making. I have really come to believe SO MUCH in the saying that “it takes a village” and we have taken that to heart by creating our own little village tucked away in the hills of Los Angeles. Stephanie and I have built a beautiful little compound that her entire wonderful family actually occupies with us. Tea with her sister, dinners with her mother, music with her brother– its all beyond any fantasy I had ever imagined for myself. Borrowing a stick of butter from one another’s fridge, carpooling to the store and pet sitting for whomever may be traveling that particular week. With the loved ones and wildlife that tread across our yard daily, we truly can not wait to share this world with Itsy and Bitsy upon their eagerly anticipated arrival into our lives. With every twist and turn over the past couple of years, I can honestly say that I couldn’t be a happier and better person for it all. I no doubt love my career and feel thankful for all of the opportunities I have been offered, but nothing makes my heart explode with more joy and excitement or has utmost priority like what we have at home. I feel so unbelievably grateful for my friends and my family as well as my new family that surrounds us here at “Maison D’Oiseaux.”
Thank you to those near and far who have extended endless support of my non-traditional personal and non-traditional professional lives. As they say- you do your thing, I’ll do mine. When people ask what exciting new project I have on the horizon, my response has been and will continue to be to just maintain all the good that I have, because I truly have it all (+ 2).” (via Facebook) 

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The representation of queer characters on television has made real progress in the last few years. We now have a whole list of shows with interesting and nuanced lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans characters. Things aren’t exactly perfect – it’d be nice if every lesbian on TV didn’t have to die tragically, for example – but there has been real and undeniable progress. The next frontier then, for us queer pop culture nerds, is diversifying the stories queer characters are allowed to tell and the roles they are allowed to occupy in those stories.

Most of the time, when we see a queer character, their queerness is both a defining character trait and the primary purpose for their appearance within the story. The “coming out” narrative, the “discrimination” narrative, these are the boxes that LGBT characters are stuck in. There are very few examples of a lesbian character appearing in a show – especially a genre show – where their sexuality and/or gender identity is not their primary reason for existing.

This is one of the many reasons why Netflix’s gritty new superhero show Jessica Jones is such a breath of fresh air. With a fresh feminist tone, a genuinely badass female protagonist and a surprisingly frank (for a Marvel show) approach to subjects like abortion and rape, this is not your average comic book adaptation. Even within a show this cool, the character of Hogarth stands out. A tough morally grey lawyer that Jessica – a P.I – works with, she is played with steely sexiness by Carrie Ann Moss. The fascinating thing about Hogarth, though, is that she is a lesbian – married to (and divorcing) bleeding-heart doctor Wendy in order to take up with young sassy personal assistant Pam – but the word “lesbian” is never used. Hogarth’s sexuality is never addressed, questioned or highlighted. Her sexuality does not define her character and her arc throughout the explosive first season, though it does focus on her love life, is not about coming out or discrimination or any of the typical queer character storylines. Now isn’t that refreshing?

Hogarth has the potential to be the template for a new approach to diversity in television. By allowing her to exist within the Marvel universe without explanation or comment, the writers normalize Hogarth’s sexuality. Interestingly, in the comics Hogarth was a man. This gender swap could have been done by switching her wife to a husband, her mistress to…whatever the male equivalent of a mistress is. Choosing to make Hogarth an unambiguous lesbian is a bold and important choice for a franchise as high profile as Marvel. I can only hope it will insight a trend in bringing characters who happen to be gay – or trans, or otherwise queer – in a way that does not limit or define them to our screens. Who knows – gay superhero next?

Francesca Lewis is a queer feminist writer from Yorkshire, UK. She writes for Curve Magazine and The Human Experience as well as writing short fiction and working on a novel. Her ardent love of American pop culture is matched only by her passion for analyzing it completely to death.

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The cast of the award-winning series “Orange is the New Black” describes Season 2 in just three words.

Season 2 will be available on Netflix on June 6.

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Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda

BY CANDY PARKER
Lesbian.com

“9 to 5” costars Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda are teaming up for a new Netflix sitcom, “Grace and Frankie.” The 13-episode, single camera sitcom will feature the veteran actresses as rivals who are grow closer after their husbands declare their love for each other and reveal their plans to marry.

Written and created by Marta Kauffman (“Friends”) and Howard J. Morris (“Sullivan and Son”) will premiere on Netflix in 2015.

“Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin are among the funniest and most formidable actresses ever and it’s an incredible privilege to give them the opportunity to run riot on Netflix,” said Netflix’s Ted Sarandos via media announcement. “The show created for them by Marta and Howard is warm, very funny and anything but wholesome. We can’t wait.”

You can keep up with the show on Facebook and Twitter.

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“Orange Is the New Black” Season 2 debuts in June, and if the first photos are any indication, the Litchfield women are in for another bumpy ride.

Taylor Schilling told People, “In season two, we’ll see how Piper’s story continues, but the show also gets wider and deeper to tell the stories of even more of the women.” Netflix released the first three photos of Season 2, which tease a mock job fair and some bloodshed.

See more photos at Huffington Post Gay Voices

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Every sentence has a story in the smash hit series “Orange Is The New Black — Season One” arriving on Blu-ray Disc (plus Digital HD UltraViolet), DVD (plus Digital UltraViolet) and Digital HD May 13 from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. Hailed by critics as “magnificent and thoroughly engrossing” (Washington Post), the hugely popular dark comedy from Weeds creator Jenji Kohan broke viewing records for its premiere season. Starring Taylor Schilling (“Argo,” “Stay”) in a Golden Globe nominated performance, “Orange Is The New Black” also won “TV Program Of The Year” from the American Film Institute (AFI).

Based on the best-selling memoir by Piper Kerman, “Orange Is The New Black” also stars Jason Biggs (“American Pie” franchise), Laura Prepon (“That ‘70s Show”), Kate Mulgrew (“Star Trek: Voyager,” “NTSF:SD:SUV”), Pablo Schreiber (“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” Showtime’s “Weeds”), Natasha Lyonne (“American Pie,” “G.B.F”), Taryn Manning (“Sons of Anarchy”), Michael J. Harney (“Weeds,” HBO’s “True Detective”), and rising talents Danielle Brooks and Uzo Aduba.

Read more at TheSeattleLesbian.com

The Seattle Lesbian online magazine reaches more than 188,000 readers per week globally.

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Netflix announced that season 2 of our favorite jailhouse dramedy will be available for streaming on June 6. Here’s a little teaser to amp up the anticipation.

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