I've decided to stop being quite such a gloomy sod and count some blessings for a change.  Good things I've thought of recently as far as the dyke community goes, are Ellen Degeneres' seemingly never-ending and meteoric rise to fame – her own talk show, judge on American Idols, Cover Girl contract – and this is the woman who got married to a woman in a dress, while wearing a suit.  Then there's Kate Clinton.  OK she's not overly well-known in South Africa, but in 2006 she celebrated her 25th year in the comedy industry – and for a very out, proud and political “stylish butch” to make it in showbiz for so long – something, somewhere must be going right.  So Ellen and Kate are currently my two … not role models, I am in no danger of fame, but signs of good things for dykes.  They're ambassadors, I guess.

They do it in two completely different ways too.  No, not that “it” - pull your minds out of your pants please.  The ambassador bit.  Kate Clinton is unfailingly out and very loud and proud indeed – possibly as a result of this, her appeal's more limited to the dyke community than Ellen's is.  Ellen is everybody's.  Her high-profile and good looking femme girlfriends have possibly helped broaden her appeal there – because actually she and Clinton both have a similar wide-grin positive kind of an approach to things. 

The fact remains, Ellen never denies being gay and when it matters, (like Prop 8 issues) she talks about it, it's just not her entire “schtick.”

As for Kate, she's something of an elderdyke now and perhaps Rachel Maddow owes a little of her current success to the trails that Kate blazed, back in the proverbial day.  She's there behind Ellen too, in that line of brave lesbians who started off doing standup.