Michele Kort

After much controversy and a long absence from the stage, Paula Poundstone stages a successful return to stand-up Saturday night at the Wadsworth Theater in Los Angeles

The famed crime novelist has kept us spellbound with her fiction. Now she's telling her truth--as a happily married lesbian who's speaking out for equal rights.

Laurel Hester spent her last days fighting for her pension to be passed on to her partner before cancer overcame her body. Her struggle was chronicled in Cynthia Wade's documentary Freeheld, which was just nominated for an Oscar. Michele Kort spoke to the filmmaker about the movie and the honor.

Sarah Shahi won our hearts playing the ooh-la-la lesbian Carmen, Shane's left-at-the-altar DJ girlfriend on The L Word. Now she's winning our admiration for her post-L Word acting range: She made us laugh in her cameo as a vapid morning-show host in For Your Consideration, made Tony Soprano nearly see God in The Sopranos, and now makes criminals (and viewers) sweat as no-nonsense cop Dani Reese in the new NBC TV drama Life. The 27-year-old Iranian-Spanish-Texan -- a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader! -- checked in with The Advocate during a recent shooting break.