Power UP announces “10 Most Powerful Gay Women in Show Business” (1742)

The Los Angeles-based Professional Organization of Women in Entertainment Reaching Up (POWER UP) announced its ranking of the 10 most powerful gay women in show business. Heading the list are comic Ellen DeGeneres and singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge, both of whom are very public about their sexuality. Also on the list is filmmaker Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don't Cry), who, while resisting being labeled as either gay or bisexual, says that she is "flattered to be recognized with such a great group of women." The ranking, in order, is:

1. Ellen DeGeneres (comic-actress)
2. Melissa Etheridge (singer-songwriter)
3. k.d. lang (singer-songwriter)
4. Nina Jacobson (president, Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group)
5. Kimberly Peirce (filmmaker)
6. Jane Anderson (writer, If These Walls Could Talk 2, Looking for Normal)
7. Lee Rose (filmmaker, A Girl Thing, The Truth About Jane)
8. Leslie Belzberg (film and television producer)
9. Jan Oxenberg (filmmaker, I'm Not One of Them)
10. Lily Tomlin (comic-actress)