The Year in Celesbians

At the mid-century mark, Jane Lynch's life reached new heights. The actress was mostly known for small character roles in Christopher Guest's mockumentaries, but after slipping into track suits to play heartless cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester on Fox's 2009 breakout hit Glee, Lynch finally received her due. The portrayal earned her a Golden Globe nomination and an Emmy in 2010, but the highlight for now-50-year-old Lynch personally was marrying her longtime partner Dr. Lara Embry and becoming a mom to Embry's daughter Haden. During their intimate May ceremony, according to The New York Times, Lynch vowed "to be the very best parent I can be" and to try to get Haden iCarly tickets. "I'm thrilled! It's an amazing thing," she told Us Weekly of getting married. "I wake up and pinch myself every morning!"

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When the blog Lesbians Who Look Like Justin Bieber launched in the spring, the teen pop star found a surprising fanbase. The 16-year-old singing sensation's iconic wind-swept shaggy hair has become the hottest style since "The Rachel," so it was only a matter of time before the lesbian community noted their case of Bieber fever. Musical (and gay) sister act Tegan and Sara joked on Twitter about changing their name to Bieber and Sara, and many were drawing similarities between the looks of Bieber and Ellen Page, A Shot at Love With Tila Tequila contestant Dani Campbell, and other figures in the lesbian community. The references became so commonly used, in fact, that "lesbians who look like Justin Bieber" required a more concise term and thus, "Biebian" was born. In August, someone called the cops on one 27-year-old Biebian who they believed was the real underage Bieber drinking in a Maryland bar. Her response to TMZ: It happens all the time!

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For Constance McMillen, senior prom was about much more than dresses, limos, and afterparties. The Mississippi lesbian teen—who has been openly gay since eighth grade—wanted to bring her girlfriend to the dance and don a tuxedo. Her school, however, refused turning a typical rite of passage into an explosive civil-rights issue. McMillen, 18, would not take "no" for an answer—she contacted the ACLU in March and in response, Itawamba Agricultural High School canceled the prom. Eventually, a federal judge concluded that McMillen's First Amendment rights were violated and in July, the school district agreed to pay her $35,000 for discrimination. Since the debacle, the brave young woman has appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, was chosen as the grand marshall of New York's Pride Parade, and was named one of Glamour's Women of the Year. "I was raised to always be proud of who you are," she told the magazine. "Sometimes you got to do what you got to do."

Carolyn Kaster / AP Photo

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Country-music tropes tend to include six packs, pickup trucks, and home-cooked meals full of fried food—lesbians have largely been left out of the lyrics. Ultimately, someone had to change that. "There had never, ever been a country-music artist who had acknowledged his or her homosexuality," 39-year-old country singer Chely Wright told People magazine in May of her hesitation to come out as a lesbian. "I wasn't going to be the first." But Wright, who was largely unknown outside the Nashville sphere, soon realized she had to be, and the response was far more positive than she imagined. She went on to reveal her full story in a moving memoir called Like Me, released the day after People's report. "I was told that in my hometown school, the day I came out, three kids walked to the principal's office and came out," she told her local Kansas newspaper. "This is important. I'm really proud of Nashville and proud of country music."

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Before she was involved in one of the year's most horrendous Hollywood breakups, Sandra Bullock was filled with nothing but love. During the 2010 award season, one of the tightest races was between the The Blind Side star and Oscar vet Meryl Streep for her role in Julie & Julia. But at the typically yawn-worthy Critics' Choice Awards in January, the two surprisingly tied for the honor and squashed any rivalry rumors with a spontaneous makeout session. "Meryl's a good kisser," the actress said at the end of her speech. And when she beat out Streep for the Best Actress title at the Oscars, Bullock thanked "my lover, Meryl Streep." Then, in June, when she accepted the Generation Award at the MTV Movie Awards, Bullock and Scarlett Johansson shared a far more staged, far shorter kiss. Bullock's signature head grab, though, was there in full effect.

Chris Pizzello / AP Photo; Matt Sayles / AP Photo

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Bravo's bevy of Real Housewives have been involved in some crazy antics—many of which involve weave-pulling and subsequently Atlanta's Kim Zolciak and New Jersey's Danielle Staub. As divorced mothers of two daughters, the two found even more common ground this year by partaking in off-screen lesbian relationships that many nonetheless disregarded as publicity stunts. Zolciak, the voice behind the beloved bomb of a pop song "Tardy for the Party," met DJ Tracy Young when Young approached her about remixing the track. "And we had sex. OK. Great. Quiver," Zolciak admitted in series' most recent episode. The reality star previously said she'd never been with a woman before Young, but that "it didn't take a whole bottle of wine" for things to lead to a sexual relationship. Up north in New Jersey, the alleged "engaged 19 times, prostitution whore" Danielle Staub's romantic life took a similar turn. Though she hasn't officially confirmed her relationship with Lori Michaels, the singer-songwriter of the pair's Top 40 attempt " Real Close," she told Hollywood Life, "I can describe Lori best as being a part of my soul that was missing for a long time."

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When it came to her sexual orientation, Sara Gilbert—the actress who played tomboy daughter Darlene on Roseanne in the 1990s—largely regarded her lesbianism a not-so-well-kept Hollywood secret. Though articles would mention her two children, Gilbert's publicists would reportedly ask that journalists not mention her partner of eight years, Allison Adler, according to Entertainment Weekly. But after signing on as a co-host and executive producer for CBS' morning gabfest The Talk, Gilbert decided to finally address the hush-hush issue and help the channel's LGBTQ visibility. "I don't ever really think of things as out or in," Gilbert said during a press conference. "I just think I am who I am, and when topics come up that are appropriate, I'll talk about them and share when it seems right."

Charley Gallay, WireImage / Getty Images

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After her stint as a closeted Army colonel on The L Word, Top Gun star Kelly McGillis revealed to the world she was gay in April 2009. McGillis told SheWired.com she was " done with the man thing" and explained "that's another part of being true to yourself." Though she claimed to be single at the time, in September of this year she entered into a civil union with Melanie Leis, whom she'd met in 2000 when Leis was a bartender at the restaurant McGillis owned with her second ex-husband. McGillis told The New York Times that it was time for her to come out when she did, saying, "That was one of those moments when somebody asked me a question... and I just decided to be absolutely honest."

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Teen and twentysomething female characters were hooking up this year all over both the big and small screens. Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning were the first to explore the Sapphic side this year when they appeared in an eponymous film about the 1970s girl punk rock group, The Runaways. Stewart took on the role of Joan Jett while Fanning played Cherie Curie, and their drug-fueled hotel romp made headlines well before the movie's March release. Though it didn't get too raunchy (since Stewart said their age difference prevented groping), " Krisbians" were likely pleased.

Next up, after many teases during the show's first season, Glee's leading Cheerios Brittany (Heather Morris) and Santana (Naya Rivera) finally got physical, earning the portmanteau Brittana and causing jaws to drop with a scissoring comment on primetime network TV.

And finally, there's the current lesbian rendezvous in Darren Aronofsky's Oscar-bait drama Black Swan, featuring rival ballerinas played by Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman. Kunis told Parade the scene was not an intended attention-grabber. "We were just hoping that people would walk away after seeing the movie not just isolating in their memory that scene when we have sex," she explained. "I think it's important to the story. It wasn't done for shock value."

Fox Searchlight; Everett; FOX

The Year in Celesbians

It was a big year for famous gay women: The Kids Are All Right made same-sex parenting mainstream, Jane Lynch tied the knot, and Nashville got its first out star. See the best moments!