BY EMELINA MINERO

AfterEllen’s Managing Editor, Trish Bendix, first realized that she could get paid to write about queer culture when a journalist on an arts and entertainment reporting panel at her college shared how he got his start writing with gay magazines. It was that moment that sparked her journey into queer media with freelancing and starting her own endeavors.

In 2006, discontent with the national print media for queer women, Bendix co-founded now defunct Chill Magazine, a queer print publication focused on the female community in Chicago. In 2007, realizing that the majority of their audience was outside of Chicago and that managing a blog would make their content more accessible, she co-founded Girlfriendisahomo.com, a nationwide news and pop culture site for queer women. Frustrated with the lack of organization in a queer music festival she helped organize with her then girlfriend in 2007, they created their own, Queer Fest Midwest. In 2010, when Bendix realized that SXSW didn’t have an organized space for the queer community, she created their first queer panel. Bendix has an eye for seeing what’s missing in queer representation, and a passion for filling those voids.

Bendix infuses her passion into her work, and she has been outpouring her energy for the queer community into AfterEllen since 2008. We got to chat with Bendix about her take on queer media, its evolution in the past seven years and her upcoming novel.

In a 2007 “Feministing” interview, you talked about how you were looking for yourself reflected in the music you listen to, the films you watch, the art you view and the books you read because like everyone else, you deserve to have a presence in American culture. Seven years later, from the point of view of a consumer and creator of queer media, what changes have you noticed in queer representation?

When I started at AfterEllen, we didn’t have enough lesbian, bisexual or queer portrayals in media or pop culture to write about on the site, so we’d have one big weekly column called Best Lesbian Week Ever, and that’s where most of the tidbits would go. The rest of the site was more open to writing about women we liked or admired, many of whom have played a gay role or are fierce allies, so part of the greater community.

It’s incredible how much that has changed in seven years time. Now there is so much representation for us to comment on or cover that it’s almost impossible to do it all. AfterEllen used to post one big feature a day (an interview, a movie review, an “L Word” recap) and then a few blog posts. Now we are averaging around 12 stories a day with explicitly lesbian or bi themes.

I think what has changed is the amount of truth-telling that we as the LGBT community have done. We have demanded and pushed to be seen and heard, and we are becoming a big enough mouthpiece collectively that our stories are being told, and being told right. It used to be that lesbian characters were small roles and frequently villainous or punished in some way for their deviance — or used for titillation during sweeps week. I think the more queer women are out in the real world, the more we will see ourselves accurately represented as whole human beings in characters on the small and big screens. And with that kind of representation comes the responsibility of educating Americans who might not know a lesbian in real life. One thing I’ve learned during my time at AfterEllen is to never underestimate the power fictional characters can have on real people.

How do you believe the queer community is positioned by the media and pop culture, and how has that evolved over time?

The way we are positioned now is much better than it has been in the past. It’s constantly evolving, but I think the balance that exists now between how much positive news and information is shared about the community vs. negative is so much better. In fact, I would venture to say that the mainstream media and culture (American, specifically) has been much more pro-LGBT. (The “B” and “T” still need more improvement.)

I think a great way of comparing how much things have changed is looking at the number of out people on television daily: Rachel Maddow, Ellen DeGeneres, Anderson Cooper, Don Lemon, Robin Roberts, Sam Champion. It’s only a handful, but these people have power, the kind that we could only dream of back when Ellen first came out and had her show subsequently cancelled.

How does increased mainstream coverage of the LGBT community impact queer media, as well as your role as a queer journalist?

We’re at a really interesting time with queer media because we are no longer the only ones telling our stories. The fact that major internet outlets have their own separate LGBT sections or that “Orange is the New Black” is prominently featured on “EW” or “The Daily Beast” means that some might argue we are not as necessary in 2014 and beyond.

I think what really separates us, though (us being the LGBT media), is that we are speaking to a very specific kind of reader, one who comes to us with an understanding of queer culture and ideas. One who is hoping for an involved discussion on sexuality or facets of it as portrayed in the media or pop culture. Our recaps of a lesbian relationship on a TV show will surely be different from that on a major television site. Our recaps on AfterEllen are one of the biggest draws to readers for that very reason, and the powers that be behind television shows are aware of that.

Every year I go to the Television Critics Association conference in Los Angeles — once in the winter, once in the summer — and I feel half journalist, half lobbyist. While other reporters are there to find out scoops on castings or plot twists, I’m often asking producers, writers or network heads about LGBT visibility, pressing them on what they are doing to make it better. It’s a unique situation to be in there, but I like to think that part of my job is keeping people in tune with what we want, too, and that is fair representation.

Social media has made that kind of connection to writers, producers [and] networks so much easier, and now fans can rally and reach out on their own, but sometimes a face-to-face interaction with someone about their lack of queer characters can be fruitful.

You’re working on a book right now. What is it about and what inspired the story?

I’m working on a novel about two women that end up on a road trip across the country together based on their two different journeys back to where they came from. It’s set in 1993, which was a very scary time for women in the United States, as there were several tragic high profile murders, specifically in the Pacific Northwest where it is partly based.

Much of my inspiration came from my nostalgia for the time period, in which in real life I was a few years too young to participate in the riot grrrl/Lesbian Avengers era, and so I chose to live in it through fiction. Also there aren’t a lot of road trip stories about women, and that was exciting to me, too.

The largest theme I can call out from the book is rebuilding yourself after you feel like your life has been burned down, and how that can happen in the wake of devastation.

What has surprised you the most in the process of working on your book?

I started thinking I was going to write the book from only one woman’s perspective but ended up going back after an early draft and adding a second perspective, so the chapters alternate between the two main characters. And through that I actually found that my second character was much stronger and people that have read pieces of the book thus far actually like her better!

When can we expect your book to release?

I’m still at work on it but hoping to have it completed in the next few months. So I’d venture to say 2015.

What advice do you have for people who want to get involved in creating queer media?

Don’t read the comments. (Seriously though.) Okay but really, make yourself an expert. What I mean by that is, start writing, reporting, doing the things you want to do and prove that you are a valuable voice of the community. Make yourself knowledgeable — read, watch, learn all about our history and representation in the past — and be indispensable. But really, know that you will never, ever, ever please everyone.

The post Trish Bendix discusses queer media, pop culture first appeared on Lesbian.com.

It’s been said you can’t judge a book by its cover, but lesbian gaydar is now proven to be a reality. Previous studies have shown that men’s sexuality can be read from certain aspects of their appearance, but now research illustrates we can do the same with women.

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AfterEllen is the pop culture site that plays for your team.

The post Researchers: Lesbian gaydar really exists first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Djuan Keila Trent

BY TRISH BENDIX
AfterEllen

Djuan Keila Trent was crowned Miss Kentucky in 2010 and competed in the Miss America competition representing her home state. Last week she published a blog post in which she came out as queer for the first time, publicly.

Djuan writes that she has wanted to find the right words to make her statement, but struggled.

“For months, I have been contemplating how I would write this post, how I would position it, when would be the right time to post it. Should I make it funny? Should I make it mysterious? Should I make it serious? Should I pick a special date to do it? Should I build some kind of anticipation around it? Hmmm … ain’t nobody got time for that. I have written and re-written and deleted and restarted this post more times than I care to share, and after all of that I have finally realized: “There ain’t nothin’ to it, but to do it.” So, here we go folks …

I am queer.”

Read more at After Ellen.com

AfterEllen is the pop culture site that plays for your team.

The post Former Miss America contestant: ‘I’m queer’ first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Photo: Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images for FYF

BY ERIKA STAR
AfterEllen

If you’re at all familiar with record label Kill Rock Stars and comedian Cameron Esposito, then you know a marriage of the two would be something that dreams are made of. As luck would have it, KRS announced this week that they will be releasing Esposito’s second stand-up album, bringing her to Portland to record in May. That gives you plenty of time to pack all your denim, get tickets and hit the Oregon Trail. If you still need convincing, or if you’re at all unfamiliar with either the legendary record label or Cameron “The Future of Comedy” Esposito, then strap in for a trip down memory lane. Seems the Pacific Northwest is about to make some more queer entertainment landmarks.

Read more at AfterEllen.com

AfterEllen is the pop culture site that plays for your team

The post Cameron Esposito teams up with ‘Kill Rock Stars’ to release second stand-up album first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Monica Raymund

BY LUCY HALLOWELL
AfterEllen

Monica Raymund who many of us first came to love/hate as Dana Lodge on “The Good Wife” and who now plays bad ass paramedic/firefighter-in-training Gabriela Dawson on “Chicago Fire“, came out as bisexual via Twitter tonight.

Lest we all think this is something she’s been hiding, she made it clear that she’s been out for a long time.

Read more at AfterEllen.com

The post ‘Chicago Fire’ star Monica Raymund comes out as bi on Twitter first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Frenchie Davis (“American Idol, “The Voice,” “Rent”) and out funny lady and piano virtuoso Kathryn Lounsbery have teamed up to produce their two-woman cabaret, “The French and Kat Show.” A big hit in during its first go around, the dynamic duo is bringing their show to the Metropolitan Room in NYC this weekend. Frenchie and Kat took some time with AfterEllen to discuss their collaboration, and the “musical orgy” that is “The French and Kat Show.”

Read more at After Ellen.com

AfterEllen is the pop culture site that plays for your team.

The post ‘The French and Kat Show’ heads to NYC first appeared on Lesbian.com.

The couple at the Grammys.

BY TRISH BENDIX
AfterEllen

Seattle, Washington couple Brittany and Sally Pennington were captured on camera during their wedding last Sunday when the Grammys put on a mass ceremony during a performance of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis‘s “Same Love.” The track was up for Song of the Year, and had out lesbian vocalist Mary Lambert joined on stage by Queen Latifah and Madonna as is par for the course with the Grammys.  Brittany said she saw a casting call for the event on Craigslist, which said it was “looking for couples who wanted to get married at a huge event.”

“I sent in our info and they called us right away,” Brittany said. “That’s when we found out it was at the Grammys but they didn’t tell us anything else. It wasn’t until the day before the Grammys that we found out it was to ‘Same Love’ by Macklemore and that Queen Latifah and Madonna were involved also.”

Read more at AfterEllen.com

The post ‘We got married at the Grammys!’ first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Remember those phone conversation scenes in “The L Word” when the characters gossiped to and fro between boxes, a peppy Betty song (probably) playing in the background? That’s how I imagined the lesbian phone tree after last week’s episode of “The Fosters” when Rosie O’Donnell made her grand guest-role debut. I must offer a moment of deep silence, applause or whatever you deem appropriate for celebrating how much gayer the big gay family show we love just got. Creators Peter Paige and Bradley Bredeweg are on a roll — and they aren’t stopping. Now we get to learn even more about the group of misfits at Girls United. Yesterday it was announced a spin-off web series is in the cards — “The Fosters: Girls United.”

Read more at After Ellen.com

AfterEllen is the pop culture site that plays for your team.

The post ‘The Fosters’ spurs web series spin-off first appeared on Lesbian.com.

When you think Amy Ray, you think bold, brash punk rock. But the singer/songwriter’s fifth solo studio album is more than a little bit country. In fact, “Goodnight Tender” delivers all the rough passion fans have come to expect of the sometime-Indigo Girl but within a perhaps gentler genre.

Read more at After Ellen.com

AfterEllen is the pop culture site that plays for your team.

The post Going country with Amy Ray on ‘Goodnight Tender’ first appeared on Lesbian.com.

It happens every time: chest tightening, eyes widening, fists clenching, teeth grinding, and the sudden need to chain smoke. Once the initial exhilaration of hearing, “Will you be my girlfriend?” wears off, a sticky panic sets in like peanut butter or grease growing in my gut. I feel trapped. I need to get outside. I excuse myself for a cigarette but really to get far away before she catches glimpse of the restrained horror in my eyes. I want her, I like her, but I know that within 60 days she’ll be gone. I’ll make sure of that. This is who I am.

Read more at After Ellen.com

AfterEllen is the pop culture site that plays for your team.

The post Confessions of a commitment-phobe first appeared on Lesbian.com.