Naomi (Lily Loveless, left) and Emily (Kathryn Prescott) on “Skins”

AfterEllen released their list of the Top 50 Lesbian and Bisexual Characters this week, and judging from the comments on this blog alone, it is not surprising that the top spots went to Naomi Campbell and Emily Fitch from “Skins”.

If you – like me – are a late bloomer when it comes to “Naomily” and are wondering what it is about those two that makes them so popular and so special, I think that there is one scene in particular that explains it all.

In this week’s season finale, when it looks like there is nothing they can do anymore to save their relationship, Naomi makes an astounding confession:

“I’ve loved you from the first time I saw you; I think I was 12. It took me … three years to pluck up the courage to speak to you. I was so scared of the way I felt; you know, loving a girl, that I became a sarcastic bitch just to make it feel normal. I screwed guys to make it go away, but it didn’t work. When we got together it scared the sh-t out of me because you were the one person who could ruin my life. I pushed you away. I made you think things were your fault, but really I was just terrified of pain. I screwed that girl Sophia to kind of spite you for having that hold on me. [...] I didn’t want to be a slave to the way I feel about you. Can you understand? You were trying to punish me back, and it’s horrible. It’s so horrible because, really, I would die for you. I love you. I love you so much it is killing me.”

Need I say more?

You can watch all of Emily and Naomi’s scenes of the season finale here, or just the confession scene here. Also, for a deeper understanding of what happened on this show and with the two girls, I recommend reading Heather’s “Skins” recaps on AfterEllen (which is also where I “borrowed” the quote from).

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But back to the AfterEllen Top 50: Personally, I was delighted to see that Dr. Arizona Robbins, who is one of my favourite characters, came in third, and that the German character Carla von Lahnstein (#45) is on the list as well. In addition to those two, characters from my list who made it into the Top 50 were Bette Porter (The L Word, #5), Willow Rosenberg (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, #7), Lucy Diamond (D.E.B.S, #14), Tara Maclay (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, #15), Ellen Morgan (Ellen, #20) and Idgie Threadgood (Fried Green Tomatoes, #24).

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Speaking of Arizona Robbins: Even though there was no new episode of Grey’s Anatomy, luckily, we didn’t have to go without “Calzona” altogether this week, as Jessica Capshaw stopped by at the women of “The View” to talk about her family, how she got the part on Grey’s Anatomy, and of course her character’s relationship with Callie Torres. Thanks to Jessica Capshaw Online, you can watch the interview (which includes a sneak peek at a scene of next week’s episode – Spoiler!) here.

Jessica Capshaw on “The View”

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As for the other serial lesbians on TV and the internet, there wasn’t much going on this week.

On “Marienhof”, Kerstin decided that she needs a change of location to figure out her feelings for Raul and Juliette. While she is gone, things between Raul and Juliette escalate. When Raul makes a disparaging comment about Juliette being a lesbian, he inadvertently puts her in danger of being raped.

After spending a night with her “roommate” Robin, Katherine spent the latest episode of “Desperate Housewives” trying to figure out what the night meant. Eventually, she decides that it just happened because she was drunk and that it doesn’t count. It only takes Robin one kiss, though, to convince Katherine of the contrary. (You can watch all Robin & Katherine scenes and some other hilarious scenes from last Sunday’s episode here.)

Katherine (Dana Delany, right) is trying to figure out whether
her night with Robin (Julie Benz) means that she is a lesbian

The sixth and final episode of “The Real Girl’s Guide to Everything Else” was released this week. If you like the show, you will be happy to learn that a second episode is already in the works, as Carmen Elena Mitchell, the creator of the show, told AfterEllen.

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Portia de Rossi received the Human Rights Campaign’s Visibility Award last weekend, and the laudator was her mother-in-law, Betty DeGeneres. You can watch Portia’s acceptance speech here.

There is also an article about Portia in People Magazine this week, in which she talks about Ellen on American Idol. Not surprisingly, Portia is her wife’s biggest fan.

That’s it for this weekend! As always, if I forgot anything, or if you have something to add, let me know in the comments.

Juliette (Maike von Bremen) and Kerstin (Maike Billitis) on “Marienhof”

TLWE is back, and we have a lot of topics to cover. How about we start with the serial lesbians this time, shall we?

On “Marienhof”, Juliette and Kerstin tried to keep a distance for a while so Kerstin can figure out how to deal with the situation, but when they bump into each other at a party, Kerstin once again gives in to her feelings for Juliette and kisses her.

Unfortunately, Raul sees that Juliette kisses a woman, and even though he does not know at first that it is Kerstin, he eventually figures out what is going on between Kerstin and Juliette. After a bitter quarrel, he is ready to forgive Kerstin, but demands that she does not meet Juliette anymore. When she refuses, he asks her to move out.

Kerstin blames Juliette for destroying her relationship with Raul

On “KDD”, Kristin had to help her foster son Enes, who killed a people smuggler in self defense. With a little help from her colleagues, she manages to get Enes cleared of all charges. When Enes and Kristin’s girlfriend Müjde pay a surprise visit to her at the police station, they are taken hostage by a man who wants to force his ex-wife to let him see his daughter, but even though the man keeps pointing a gun at Enes’ head, in the end all of them survive.

Meanwhile, on “Lindenstraße”, Steffi misses Tanja, who broke up with her because Steffi startet to work for a drug dealer in order to earn the money for her chocolate shop.

Over in Bristol, the “Skins” girls are still trying to deal with their relationship problems, which – at least in Emily’s case – means going out with a female “friend” who is not Naomi. For recaps of the latest episodes, you can go to either AfterEllen or eurOut, and if you want to know what’s in store for “Naomily”, you can go here (SPOILER!).

After the revelation that her new roommate Robin is a lesbian, “Desperate Housewife” Katherine starts to dream about getting together with Robin. When her dream becomes reality, Katherine is suddenly left questioning her sexuality. (Go here to watch a compilation of Katherine & Robin scenes from the latest episode.)

And on “Grey’s Anatomy”, Arizona makes the acquaintance of a green-eyed monster called jealousy when she finds out that Callie once slept with Alex. Other than that, everything is great – until they start talking about their plans for the future…

Arizona (Jessica Capshaw, left) and Callie (Sara Ramirez)

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As for the serial lesbians on the internet, the first season of “Venice” came to an end last week, and it ended with a cliff-hanger – well, more than one, to be exact. Traci asks Gina to finally choose between her and Ani, so Gina asks Ani whether they can go back to being friends, but Ani decides that they can’t and that it is better to end whatever it is they have and “get off the roller-coaster” – ouch. Gina is about to take out her bad mood on her computer when she receives a phone call from someone very unexpected…

Will they get back together in season 2? Gina (Crystal Chappell, left) and Ani (Jessica Leccia)

On “Anyone But Me”, Aster’s parents make her see a therapist (played by Liza Weil, “Gilmore Girls”) to help her deal with their impending divorce. Afterwards, she pays a surprise visit to Vivian and takes her frustration out on her when she finds out that Vivian’s aunt is still clueless about the nature of their relationship.

And on “The Real Girl’s Guide to Everything Else”, Rasha, who went undercover “as a glitter-wearing, shoe-obsessed, Cosmo-drinking straight girl” in order to do research for a book her agent is forcing her to write, finally finds someone who can actually help her with her project on the women of Afghanistan. But then she has an unexpected encouter with her girlfriend Liz.

k.d. lang performs “Hallelujah”

The 2010 Winter Olympics were kicked off with a big, yet moderate opening ceremony last Friday. Among the artists who were chosen to perform at the event were popular Canadian singers Nelly Furtado and Sarah McLachlan, but one of the most notable performances was the one by out singer k.d. lang, who moved the audience in the BC Place stadium and two billion TV viewers from all over the world with her powerful interpretation of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”.

A video of the performance is available online (h/t @SpiritedMuse for the link), but unfortunately only on the NBC website, where it is restricted to viewers within the United States. Videos that were uploaded to YouTube and other websites had to be taken down by request of the International Olympic Committee.

But of course, the Winter Olympics are not (only) about performances at the opening ceremony, but about sports. If you are interested in skiing, biathlon, figure skating and the like and want to know which women you might want to look for, AfterEllen has put together a list of out females athletes who will be competing in Vancouver.

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Don’t you just love it when you are given the chance to get a glimpse of what was going on behind the scenes of one of your favourite TV shows? Well, even if you don’t, you might still be interested in “The L Word Book”. During her six years on the show, actress Jennifer Beals kept a photographic journal of the cast and crew which she is now making available to the fans as well. The book does not only include 400 never-before-seen photos, but also other things like bits of scripts, callsheets and production memos.

“The L Word Book” can now be ordered from the official website, lwordbook.com. The proceeds from the book will go to several different charities.

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Even though the program schedule of German TV channel ARD was dominated by coverage of the Winter Olympics this week, it does not mean that its serial lesbians got a chance to take a breather.

On “Verbotene Liebe”, Carla and Stella said goodbye to family and friends to set off for the next stage of their journey together – marriage. Tuesday’s episode brought not only the two-week-long guest appearance by actresses Claudia Hiersche (“Carla”) and Anne Wis (“Stella”) to an end, but most likely the storyline itself. There has been no official confirmation that there will be no further guest appearances, but judging from the send-off they got and also from the fact that their names disappeared from the cast list on the official website this week as well, it seems more and more unlikely that they will return any time soon, if at all.

Goodbye, “Starla”: Actresses Claudia Hiersche (left) and Anne Wis

With Carla and Stella gone, it is time for Kerstin and Juliette on “Marienhof” to hurry up a little and finally get involved in order to prevent a void of lesbian couples on German soaps. (By the way, have the fans agreed on a name by now? Is it “Keriette” or “Kerstiette”?)

Unfortunately, Kerstin is still fighting her attraction to Juliette and is trying to prove to Juliette, the world and most of all herself that she is still in love with Raul and wants to be with him. Of course, Juliette is hurt by Kerstin’s behaviour, and it gets more and more difficult for them to work together, until the tensions finally become unbearable and they get into a bitter quarrel at the bakery…

Speaking of “Marienhof”, the girls of “Back Dat” will soon be joined by another lesbian. According to the official website, out singer Lucy Diakovska of the German band “No Angels” has just filmed two guest appearances, which will air in April and May, respectively. She will play a photographer who comes to the bakery to take pictures of Juliette and her chocolates.

Lucy Diakovska (left) with Maike von Bremen, who plays Juliette
(Picture: Das Erste)

While Carla and Stella are and Juliette and Kerstin will (hopefully) soon be happy together, things are not looking good for the lesbians on the German “Lindenstraße” and the British teenage drama “Skins”. On “Lindenstraße”, Steffi is still determined to open a chocolate shop. In order to get the money she needs, she starts to work for a drug dealer. When Tanja finds out about it, they get into a fight. Over in Bristol, the relationship of teenagers Emily and Naomi is on the rocks as Emily is unable to cope with the fact that Naomi cheated on her. (You can find recaps of the “Naomily” storyline both on AfterEllen and eurOut.)

And in the U.S., it looks like Callie and Arizona (“Grey’s Anatomy”) will soon not be the only lesbian couple on American network TV anymore. As AfterEllen reports, there will be a lesbian storyline on “Desperate Housewives”, starting this Sunday.

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“The Kids Are Alright”, the new movie by “High Art” director Lisa Cholodenko, won the Teddy Award 2010 for “Best Feature Film” at the Berlin International Film Festival. The movie is about a lesbian couple, played by Annette Bening and Julianne Moore, whose life gets complicated when their teenage children track down their biological father (Mark Ruffalo). You can read more about the award and the other lesbian movies in the competition over on eurOut.

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A tip for German readers: The current issue of German magazine “Gala” has an article about Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi in which their marriage is being described as one of the happiest in Hollywood. Though the article about “Hollywoods Power Duo” is not very informative and they even get some facts wrong, the pictures alone make it worth to take a look and maybe even buy it.

That’s it for this week. As always, let me know what you think in the comments.