Sappho Speaks: IT'S OPRAH AND GAYLE AGAIN, Part Deux

What Would Sappho Say?

Lectori Salutem! or L.S. (Greetings to the Reader!)

Okay... So we’ve gone over this territory haven’t we? Well, apparently not. I had this idea for a topic long before I started publishing this blog and it happened to slip my mind that I had ALREADY written it, so... a few months apart you’ll get a slightly different take on the same subject. This one seems to be more homo-centric and uniting, perhaps the earthquake in Haiti made an impact on the slant I took as this was written shortly after. I hope you will enjoy a bit of the compare and contrast instead of being bored by the same old subject. I guess we’re about to find out.


Most lesbians have at least jokingly questioned the relationship between Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King while others have outright swore their lesbian lover/life partner status was the absolute gospel truth!!! Well here on earth those of us with real eyes to see and ears to hear know good and well they are JUST BEST FRIENDS. I have a best friend and if we took a car trip across the country it would look very similar to the one Oprah and Gayle took in front of the cameras. So Saturday Night Live be damned, let’s for the sake of this argument agree that in the world we live in today, there is no Oprah and Gayle, gay icons.

The idea of all of the hoopla, however, struck an important cord in me and was the primary reason I believe it not to be true. Oprah is too honorable of a person (and lets face it, way too stupid when it comes to understanding the intricacies of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and especially transgender issues) to not take the great power she has been given and use it to fight the forces of evil that befall our sexual orientation if she herself fell into that category as she does with sexual abuse of women and children.

So, for the sake of argument, let’s look at what this world would look like if the powerful and mighty Oprah Winfrey decided to come out as a lesbian as Ellen did and she received the same adoration in kind as I believe she would. This woman would not have been stopped by any barrier from reaching the top of her profession, not even a decades long love affair with her editor-in-chief at O! Magazine, Gayle King.

Here we are in 2010 and Barack Obama is in the Oval Office thanks in large part to the support of his close friends Oprah and Gayle and millions of Americans and folks around the world have gotten use to the sights and sounds of the world’s biggest power lesbians together in public at last. While they are not ones to flaunt it, like Oprah uses her show as a place to change the minds of those who view domestic violence, rape, child abuse, and sexual assault as anything less than the violent, heinous acts that they are, so to has her show become a forum for the advancements of gay rights in this country and as such, the tide of public opinion has be turning much faster with her than without her.

Out of the blue it seems, Illinois becomes the first Midwestern state to grant same sex marriages and the Mayor of the Windy City, Second City, the City of Trains, and the city over three million people call home, CHICAGO, presides over Oprah and Gayle’s official marriage and a ticker tape parade is planned for the event right down Michigan Avenue through the center of the town. Yes, things are certainly different with Oprah and Gayle as the poster women for gay rights!!!

Then there is the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama and his family, personal friends of Mrs. and Mrs. Oprah Winfrey. You can be sure one of the first acts of his new presidency would have been the stroke of his pen to both strike down “don’t ask, don’t tell” and extend EVERY spousal benefits to ALL same-sex couples who work for the federal government, not the watered down version he signed at the beginning of the summer. Next on the agenda would definitely be sweeping Hate Crimes legislation (I must say though, we didn’t actually need him on this one as a Democratic House and Senate passed it for him) and then on to the big one, a charge on repealing DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act that Bill C. passed when veto would just be overruled defining a marriage as an act between one man and one woman). With her on our team, Obama would be forced to follow through with those campaign promises he made or how would he face those fancy dinner parties back in his and Oprah’s own home turf in the Windy City!!!

Yes, it is certainly the housewives of America that watch Oprah that have a huge amount of sway over the popular opinions in today’s world as they have domain in their homes and shouts more than whispers into their husbands’ ears. By watching Oprah and her mate and editor-in-chief, Gail, in the comfort of their homes, they have let homosexuality wash over their living rooms and it has left them feeling no worse for wear. As the years go by, the tide changes a bit quicker for gays and lesbians with Oprah and Gail as the party chairwomen. Her presence, power, and will for change wrapped together with our cause for unity and equality would leap us ahead at least 10 to 15 years in history.

It’s a nice story to think about. The truth of the matter is all of those things are within our grasp without her in time. She and Gail would have just sped up our forward momentum, but make no mistake, WE ARE MOVING ON UP! Just take a trip back in your mind 10 or 20 years ago and you will see the leaps and bounds we have made in the minds of the American people. We are still changing them each and every day by living our lives as out and proud members of the community of souls around us.

So... OPRAH AND GAIL BE DAMNED!!!! KEEP ON MOVING ON, MY FRIENDS! WE’LL BE THERE SOME DAY SOON!

Much Love.


Inspired By Sappho

MUSIC OF THE DAY
Since we giving a little homage to Ms. O, I thought the Eurthymics King and Queen of America might be appropriate (even though in this case we were talking about Queen and Queen. As my second choice, I am playing a song recently performed on Oprah’s show by Rhianna to help raise money for Haiti relief. It is an amazing version of Bob Marley’s Redemption Song. Please have a listen and if you like it go to iTunes and download it as all the proceeds go directly to Haitian Relief.

King and Queen of America   Eurthymics
Redemption Song                 Rhianna

QUOTE OF THE DAY
Where there is no struggle, there is no strength.
Oprah Winfrey

So go ahead, fall down. The world looks different from the ground.
Oprah Winfrey