Notable American Lesbians
Tammy Baldwin became the first open lesbian ever elected to Congress in 1998. In 2012 she became the first openly lesbian or gay senator in American history.
Ellen DeGeneres came out as a lesbian in 1997, one of the first celebrities to do so, and later that year her character Ellen Morgan came out as a lesbian on the TV show "Ellen", making her the first openly lesbian actress to play an openly lesbian character on television. In 2007, she became the first open lesbian to host the Academy Awards. She is currently a talk show host, for which she has won four Emmys.
Melissa Etheridge, a multiplatium-selling singer, came out as a lesbian in 1993. In 1995 she won a Grammy and in 2007 she won an Academy Award for Best Song.
Jane Lynch, an Emmy-winning actress best known for her role on the TV series Glee, is openly lesbian.
Rachel Maddow became the first openly lesbian or gay American to win an international Rhodes scholarship in 1995, and the first openly lesbian or gay anchor of a major prime-time news program in America in 2008, when she began hosting The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC.
Wanda Sykes, an American writer, comedian, actress, and voice artist, came out as a lesbian in 2008. She is well known for her role as Barbara Baran on The New Adventures of Old Christine and for her appearances on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Read more about this topic: Lesbian American History
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