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By Pat Branch
When the editors of Premiere magazine "premiered" the first POWER list of any kind in 1989, it's unlikely they knew they were starting a trend that would eventuate into all sorts of collectives offering up annual lists declaring who is deemed the most powerful at what they do.
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Last year, POWER UP, the organization that began as a means for out gay women in entertainment to counter Hollywood's "old boy" network, premiered its annual list of the "Top 10 Most Powerful Gay Women in Show Business." Now this is what we call culmination.
This year, with its membership numbers almost double those of last year's, totaling over 600 members, POWER UP's list has created a bit of a "Hollywood shuffle" in the ranks. "After one year of overnight notoriety, it doesn't surprise me that POWER UP's Top 10 Most Powerful Gay Women in Show Business list has become the place to be," laughed Stacy Codikow, Executive Director and founder of POWER UP.
The source of her amusement?
It seems that funnywoman and talk show host Rosie O'Donnell (THE ROSIE O'DONNELL SHOW), having come out in droves all over network and print media, came in at No. 1, bumping last year's most POWERful gay woman, Ellen DeGeneres, the comedian, Emmy-Award winning actress (ELLEN, IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK II, ELLEN AGAIN) and best-selling author(MY POINT…AND I DO HAVE ONE) to No. 2. Of course, considering that director Kimberly Peirce (BOYS DON'T CRY) and producer Leslie Belzberg (COMING TO AMERICA) were bumped off the list altogether, No. 2 isn't such a terrible place to be, even for one as POWERful as the history-making Ellen.
We tracked down DeGeneres in Boston, where she was on tour with her hilarious ELLEN DEGENERES IN CONCERT, to hear what she thought of her new status. "I've just found out I've been named the No. 2 most powerful lesbian in show business," she said. "Does this mean I'm runner-up? If so, I am prepared to step in and take care of any Most Powerful Lesbian in Show Business duties should photos surface of Rosie in compromising positions with a man."
So, then, with O'Donnell at No. 1 and DeGeneres at No. 2, who else can be found on this year's list?
Veteran Capitol Hill lobbyist and a founding member of Rock the Vote, Hilary B. Rosen flexes her POWER in the entertainment capitals and the nation's capital, and debuts at a respectable No. 7. Rosen, who has spent the last four years of her remarkable career as president and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America, graciously offered, "It's very nice to be included in the POWER UP list, and I feel very blessed in my life. (My partner) Elizabeth (Birch)and I are glad that there are so many great role models around for our kids. Thanks to POWER UP for what you do."
And what of these role models, these gay women POWERful enough to cling to the other spots on this year's list? What do they think of their sustaining POWER?
"What an honor," declared two-time Grammy-winning musician and activist Melissa Etheridge, down one notch this year to No. 3. "Thank you for the acknowledgment. I hope to continue making a difference for our community."
Buena Vista president Nina Jacobson holding on to 4th place again stated "It is a great honor to be included with these women on the Top 10 list. POWER UP is doing great work and I am glad to be a part of it."
Toward the other end of the list, the shuffling was just as intense. Award-winning writer-director-producer and POWER UP honorary board member Lee Rose has been busy fattening up her impressive resume with recent projects such as Lifetime's THIS MUCH I KNOW and Showtime's WHAT GIRLS LEARN. When Rose learned that her name was still on the list, and also down a notch, to No. 8, she quipped, "Phew, I made it a second year!"
Fellow honorary board member Jan Oxenberg, popular for defying stereotypes by infusing a satirical and intelligent wit into her work as a producer-writer (CHICAGO HOPE, MAX BICKFORD, ONCE AND AGAIN), held firm to her No. 9 slot, musing, "It's an honor to be on the list that SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE has singled out to make fun of! Thank you, POWER UP. I'm proud to be a member."
Singer k.d. lang came in at 5 with writer-director Jane Anderson holding on to 6 again, and comedian Lily Tomlin holding her place on the list at 10.
Relief? Honor? Pride? Props on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE? Can it be that with O'Donnell having taken such a bold and brave step out of the closet, there will be others not many paces behind her? What happens when already out gay women in show business realize the career-boosting potential of "the list" and suddenly covet POWER they didn't even know they wanted? Why, they may step into POWER blue suits and then into brazen career moves that will make predicting 2003's list even more impossible.
Perhaps even names that seem to be glaringly absent from this year's list - because their owners still find it uncomfortable or even unsafe to come out - will show up, someday setting a course that bumps around famous gay women's names like pieces on a chessboard, until all the dangling chads are accounted for.
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