PRIDE OF LESBIANS | Debbie Forth, left, co-created the new web show ‘Lez Be Proud,’ depicting the everyday lives of her and fellow cast members, left to right, Dawn, Lauren and Kristi. The show debuts Friday.
The women of the new web series ‘Lez Be Proud’ put real life on display
RICH LOPEZ | Staff Writer
lopez@dallasvoice.com
Lately, reality TV is all about the ladies. The drama of a real housewife is addictive to watch. Bridezillas make for the most bizarre entertainment. Even the lives of policewomen are on display.
Lesbians have entered the fray with The Real L Word, but one show expects to take the catty drama away to portray the true life of everyday Texas lesbians.
“Most GLBT television exposure and media coverage do not portray us or even come close to our family dynamic,” says Debbie Forth, creator of the web series Lez Be Proud. “We also know that our lives do not reflect the norm that is promoted in the media. Our lives include homework, soccer practice and work. I tossed this idea around in my head for some time.”
Instead of the sensationalism portrayed by network shows, Lez Be Proud hopes instead to educate and bring awareness to issues faced not just by lesbians but the entire LGBT community, and to highlight local charities and life in Texas.
Lez Be Proud show follows business owner Forth and three other women: Dawn, a communications and telecom specialist, and Forth’s partner; and another couple, Kristi, a vice president of a business management firm; and Lauren, a senior loan officer in a bank. One of the emphases is on Dawn and Forth’s family unit: With two children and a baby daddy in the mix, they truly depict a modern family.
“People we meet are always intrigued by our relationship and the dynamic we share as a family,” Forth says. “Meanwhile, the idea of same-sex marriage and the opposition to our lifestyle was constantly in the media. This negative press left me questioning, ‘Where’s my voice? Who would understand my family and view?’ I liked the idea of promoting our positive alternative family to give others in the community hope for their families.”
Lauren and Kristi have unique stories of their own. Kristi comes from a Southern Baptist background and was a youth minister; Lauren finds the importance of equality for all people through her personal trek.
“I came to America with my family to escape communism in Vietnam in order to live in a free country,” she says. “Many Americans take their freedom for granted while others still try to take away the freedoms of those who are different. I hope my story makes people more aware of the prejudice and persecution that homosexuals experience in pursuit of the rights and respect we deserve.”
Dawn’s military background kept her in the closet for much of her adult life. She plans to relate that experience as well for people who struggled during their service — and are perhaps still struggling.
“I was always feeling I had to keep my personal and professional lives segregated. I’m ready to live a life that allows me to be totally true to my family and myself. I hope to share the inner sanctuary of my home with others so that they can see that it is possible to be out, proud and professional,” she says.
The show may sound like something heavy PBS might run, taking itself very seriously, but the teaser trailer on the website has polish and a light tone. It hints at the packaging of those previously mentioned network shows but with an added wholesomeness. Being that they do have hopes for a network pick up, it would seem only minor adjustments would needed to be made to graduate up to TV.
This first season is expected to consist of a minimum of eight episodes running about 20 minutes each, with plans to expand as it grows in sponsorships. The show debuts May 27 on LezBeProud.com. Future episodes will be archived on the site and can also be seen on OneMoreLesbian.com.
What it definitely is not, is the Real L Word — even if this is a reality show about lesbians and their daily lives. Kristi sees humor in the comparison, but works to dissolve the idea that these women have lives centered solely around sex — or rather, reality TV sex lives.
“Our show is more about educating people and having them not see us as second-class citizens,” Kristi says. “We have families, we’re CEOs, we have houses. We represent all levels of society and for people to know us as human beings instead of lesbian. That’s what’s gonna change the world. That’s our goal.”
The cast talks with good energy about the show, but interestingly has already received flak. There have been complaints that they are “too pretty to be lesbians.” Three of the four are also Anglo, leading to criticism the show doesn’t represent the diversity of the community. But, they defend, it is still a work in progress.
“We’re only here to start this not finish it,” Kristi says. “We want to see more culture and we love the butch community. This show is for all shapes sizes colors and cultures. Too pretty to be lesbians? Really?”
If their goal is network, there are some templates that most shows have to have. Of the Lez Be Proud cast, one has to be the bitch of the show.
“Ha! We’re told if a network picks us up that we need to have some strong personalities,” Kristi laughs. “We don’t have a bitch character, but if you ask any of us on a day we might be arguing, we’ll certainly throw them under the bus.”
………………………………….
Show me the money: Bravo’s grab for glamour glory
Platinum Hit premieres May 30 at 10 p.m.; Million Dollar Decorators premieres May 31 at 10 p.m., both on Bravo.
In order to get a show on Bravo, it doesn’t hurt to have one of three words in your title: “Top” (as in Top Chef and its spinoffs), “Housewives” (as in one of the seven iterations of that franchise — “real” is also acceptable) and now, it seems, “Million.” From Million Dollar Listing to Millionaire Matchmaker, Bravo seems to be selling glamour: hence, the reality show Million Dollar Decorators debuts the same week as Platinum Hit (platinum, million — same diff). Neither reality series is as compelling as the network’s biggest hits.
Platinum at least has the somewhat tarnished pedigree of host Kara DioGuardi. You may call a cable show slumming for the former American Idol judge, but based on this Idol season, I say she was thrown off a sinking ship. Not that there’s much to keep this one afloat. A dozen budding songwriters compete to compose the next pop hit, but listening to writers (most without instruments or strong voices) croak through their R&B isn’t the best way to showcase talent (though several shine). And DioGuardi, paired with host Jewel, doesn’t show any better judgment than she did on Idol. There are some cute contestants (none clearly gay based on the premiere), but we have enough pretty-boys in the music biz. We need more substance than Platinum Hit manages. Yeah, cuz substance is what reality TV does best.
The uber-gay non-competition Decorators trots out familiar tropes — so familiar as to be ho-hum. This type of show rises and falls on the personalities of the cast 
members, above; sadly, “bitchy drama queen” has become a description meant to apply to most people in every reality show — which basically means none of these stand out (well, maybe former boy model Ross). Pretentious, egotistical even self-deluded claims to influence (“Sometimes I think my job is more important than the president,” one says; “That goes without saying,” agrees his friend) define most of the men and women here, even as they deal with artificial crises (“Sharon Osborne needs it three weeks early!? I guess I’ll have to make my magic again!!!”). Been there, decorated that.
— Arnold Wayne Jones
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition May 27, 2011.
I love the idea of referring to a group of lesbians as a pride.
This is not unique. This is just like the real l word. why r u writing about this shi*t? this paper has turned into such crap with crap writers like rich lopez. it’s just freaking embarrassing.
I’ve watched the ‘Real L Word’ and trust me ‘Lez Be Proud’ is no ‘Real L Word’, in the very best sense. These ladies are the real deal. While some of the escapades of the ‘Real L Word’ are no doubt real, the daily lives of Debbie, Dawn, Kristi and Lauren are so much closer to what more lesbians probably experience. I don’t live in Texas, I’m not femme and I’m not in their income bracket, but I identify more with them than any of the TRL cast. I wish them continued success and if they were to get picked up by television I’d be a devoted viewer there as well. Thanks for covering this, Rich.
Just like the Dallas A List, I am wondering where did these people come from? Numerous friends and I were recently invited to a Pride event for this show. I was in a room with 65 other women (mind you most of these women have been involved in the community for many years from non-profit to social events) and none of us knew who these people are. We go out frequently, have been involved in non-profit for years, and been to many a lesbian event and have never seen them. We took their photos out to Sues and other places and everyone had the same response. They do not represent the women who are truly the heart of Dallas Lesbian Pride. How about picking real members of the every day community?
@JoannaL – How about a little ” the more, the merrier” and a little less “us vs, them”? I understand your loyalty to your group of Dallas lesbians, but does every lesbian really know every other lesbian? Someone new to the scene isn’t a bad thing..embrace the diversity. I’m sure they would be happy to widen the circle of generous, proud lesbians in Dallas and everywhere. I’m from Colorado and I’d gladly welcome them to our community if they wanted to host a Pride event, no matter where they came from.
@DeeG, how about not supporting reality TV and instead supporting programming on community issues, actual events, etc. And yes in Dallas, the lesbians who actually do non profit and make a difference do know each other. I think what she is trying to say is that much like the other show, these people are actors and do not actually represent our community new or not. Someone new to the scene is indeed not a bad thing. However, there is an article about to be published on this show. It turns out that it is staged and scripted (I know a shocker for reality TV right?, some of the people who appear in the show are not lesbian, and that the money so called donated has never been received by the organizations. How about support for real non profit causes and not falling for reality TV schemes.
@DeeG, I was told by my friends about the topic of this show emerging again. Unfortunately, the talk of it did not die with its slow demise in viewer hits and it NOT getting picked up by any network. Sad, I know because good lesbian show should be picked up and should have a great fan base. However, this show is not it. I was at Jack’s when they were filming and watched as the women were told when to interact, where to stand, when to speak (saw them reading papers that looked like scripts), and were told when to dance. When the cameras were not rolling, these women were not interacting. My friend tried to pick up a woman who we were told was part of the prettiest lesbian cowgirl contest and the girl told my friend “we are all straight”. The filming crew would not allow other people on the dance floor and until you walked up on the camera, there were no signs that filming was going on, and people were asked not to walk in shot view. I agree with you on more US, but lets get the real US.
WOW, this is interesting, 1st of all, the event your discussing at Jacks was my birthday party and lezbeproud was in support of me! It was my 40th birthday party and there was alot of my family and STRAIGHT friends there as well, including my son and his girlfriend who was in the Daisy Dukes Contest. If you by chance tried to pick up a woman who was a friend that was straight who was there for MY BIRTHDAY, I do apologize….
Lezberpoud however is COMPLETELY 100 % all lesbians, Dawn and Debbie have been together over 2 years and are head over heels in Love with one another, it is NOT an ACT, they are not actors, there were no scripts, no paper and no one told when to dance ( in exception of the Daisy Duke contest) and that wasnt because of anything other then when trying to figure out who the winner was!
this is truly unbelievable, that people are so unhappy that they would choose to post something that they are completeky uneducated on!
This is time when our community should be coming together in support of a great cause and 2 amazing women who are putting their lives and family out there in support of helping us be EXACTLY WHO WE ARE and for Equality!
I just have to say I was on the dance floor just about every song and I guarantee i never WALKED UP TO THE CAMERA…it is soo true that UNHAPPY PEOPLE HURT PEOPLE BY THEIR insecurties or unwillingness to see the good in others!
and just FYI, if you dont like this particular cast, start your own show, you have a voice put your money where your mouth is, just like Dawn and Debbie have!
I believe in them and honestly not know any of you, I believe that you would want the same for yourself, Dont judge until you have been there or you know the truth which is very apparent you dont! Wishing many blessings to you all!
Ok Ladies, This is dawn, one of the founders of LezBeProud. First of all, I am a lesbian and every cast member is! I have lived in Austin, Texas all my life. I am sure many of my EX girlfriends can confirm that I have been gay since I was 15 Yrs old! We do have straight friends and not everyone that volunteers for the events are gay! I am happy that Kirsten has access to our google analyitics and can tell us all how many HITS we have on our website. We are not scripted or fake! It is sad that we have to defend ourselves when all we are trying to do is fight for equality. We are not getting paid or have Showtime or any other show casting us. This is us and were trying to give our community a positive message. We pay for the filming, we pay for the events, and we are a NON-Profit organization that helps raise money for other charities. When you see the filming of us handing over the checks to our charities…you will feel as ignorant as you are. We have made a lot of sacrifices to make the show. You want equality but you don’t want to support a show, a website, and a reality web series that does just that. Until we stand together and stop discriminating against each other…we will never have equality!
BTW, you can only get invited to an event if you are a fan or a friend on my Facebook page. If you are not a friend nor fan…hit delete!!!
I want to send a huge vote of thanks to all the ladies who made this excellent web series. There are huge numbers of people just like you who are “invisible” lesbians – they don’t look gay when you look at them, they don’t participate in the gay scene, they hold down good jobs, and they are in stable loving relationships that bear all the hallmarks of the relationships heterosexuals claim as their territory. Except of course that you are not invisible any more, since taking the brave and admirable decision to put yourself forward as representatives for all the rest of us around the world. I am full of admiration for you, and I’m grateful to you all. It is especially wonderful that you have offered up an alternative to reality series like the Real L-Word. I know many people really like it, and I know that it also represents its own reality within lesbian culture. But it certainly doesn’t represent me, and I would never recommend it to someone who was looking for confirmation that a gay lifestyle can be a stable, productive and happy one. Thank you so much for your hard work and sacrifices. I appreciate this very much!!