Equal Treatment

Yesterday’s AOL headline about celebrity chef Cat Cora and wife Jennifer Cora expecting babies is yet another display of the media mainstreaming of gay relationships. AOL news treated their relationship in the exact same way it treats heterosexual couples, reporting “Iron Chef and her wife are pregnant”.  Fox used the term “lesbian partner” in its headline and used a sensational tone in its coverage, but they did lead the article with “The Iron Chef and her wife….”

Homophobia still has a firm grip in our culture but I like these small pebbles of progress.  Editing out bias in media coverage is a good barometer that change, at whatever pace, is underway.  Over the years I’ve tended to seek out deliberately gay-friendly refuges, like an Olivia cruise or a week in Provincetown.  Several years ago I was looking for a place to take Winnie to dinner, and on a whim typed “best lesbian chef” into Google.  It’s not the best way to figure out if the food is good, but I was looking for a friendly environment.  To my surprise I found a list of “best lesbian chefs”.   I chose the only chef on the list located in Manhattan, and that’s how we came to fall in love with Anita Lo’s restaurant, Annisa.  Anita Lo has my vote as the best chef in New York and Annisa has become our celebration restaurant.

Winnie and I stopped by Annisa for a drink and appetizer a few weeks ago.  We are never organized enough to get reservations, but sitting at the bar meant that we could chat with Anita when she emerged occasionally from the kitchen.  She was glad to hear we had come from a fundraiser for the Audre Lorde project, and when we told her that Gloria Steinem had hosted the event at her apartment she immediately asked, “what did she serve?”  Winnie told her we’d eaten quiche and Anita started laughing.  “That’s really funny!” she said, shaking her head as she retreated to the kitchen.    Winnie laughed with Anita but I know, deep down, neither of us really knows why that’s funny.

Here’s the AOL headline:

Congratulations go out to Jennifer and Cat Cora on their baby announcement!