100 Women We Love

100 Women We Love: Class of 2009

Once again, we celebrate our favorite out and proud women. As difficult as it is to narrow it down to just 100, this year’s eclectic list includes artists, athletes, club promoters, community organizers, entertainers, entrepreneurs, filmmakers, politicians and plaintiffs, who are making a difference in our world and the world at large.

Cheryl Dunye

Filmmaker Cheryl Dunye is currently working with the Outfest Legacy Project at the UCLA film archive to restore and preserve her 1996 debut film The Watermelon Woman. Her other features include HBO Films Stranger Inside and Miramax’s My Baby’s Daddy. Among her many honors, she has received a Community Vision Award from the National Center for Lesbian Rights, a Fusion Award from Outfest and in 2008, she was named one of PowerUp’s Top Ten Women In Showbiz. Dunye says, “The biggest challenges in my career as a filmmaker happen when I try to separate being ‘out’, or being ‘black’, or being ‘woman’ from what I do. It’s the intersection of these parts of me that keep me alive in my pursuits as a queer film artist.” She is in pre-production with Steakhaus Productions on a “lesbian desert noir” entitled The Owls. -CB

Remember, these are in no particular order because we love them all!

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