Gay men and fashion go together like vodka and tonic, but J.Crew President Jenna Lyons made history when she thanked her girlfriend at an awards ceremony on Monday.
Lyons, named 2012’s Fashion Original at Glamour magazine’s Women of the Year awards, thanked J.Crew CEO Mickey Drexler and her son, Beckett, in her acceptance speech—then thanked jewelry designer Courtney Cranger, “who has shown me new love.”
Though rumors have long circulated, this is the first time Lyons has publicly mentioned her relationship with Crangi. And Lyons is believed to be one of the first out lesbians to helm a major American retailer.
Sources say the relationship started after Lyons filed divorce from husband Vincent Mazeau last October. “After the breakup, Jenna fell in love with Courtney, whom she had been friends with for some time,” reported the New York Post. “They’ve known each other for years through the fashion business.”
Lyons already outraged reactionary wingnuts last year when she and her son appeared in an ad together and Beckett’s toenails were (gasp!) painted bright pink.
Brian
I’m not entirely comfortable about this being good for the gay community. Women are not good role models for us because their relationships are not driven by sexual arousal in the way that men’s are. Women will form relationships for reasons other than sex – foor instance, the lesbian who marries a man because she wants a child and not because she loves the man.
When it comes to sexuality, it is only men who treat sex as an end in itself. Women use sex as a means to an end – to obtain something that is unrelated to sexual pleasure. As such, I’m not comfortable with women being used to exemplify gay rights progress. It can potentially lead to a lot of problems for us.
smithster11
@Brian huh?
JDJase
@Brian: Pretty sure you qualify for the dumbest comment in Queerty history. Sounds like you’ve been reading too many books from the AFA and FRC
FStratford
@Brian:
Wtf are you blabbering about?
I’m gay and I want a relationship too.
Idiot.
NoelG
@Brian: I hope you were trying to be ironic.
biguy
sorry don’t believe it started after the divorce
Mooz
@Brian: WTF! huh? How old are you, 12? Don’t equate your shallow mind, to other people.
RSun
@Brian:
What an ignorant and silly post.
Joe
Congratulations Jenna Lyons, on doing something that took a lot of forethought, courage, and hopefully support from your colleagues. This is the biggest thing that ordinary people in prominent positions can do to broaden our presence in society.
erics
@Brian: misogynist
trackies
I can’t entirely disagree with Brian – although his message is muddled.
How many of these so-called celebrity “lesbians” are indeed lesbians? So many of these female celebrities seem to “come out” as gay/lesbian when they’re dating a woman, despite having LONG dating histories with MEN, and then one or two years later end up with a man again (Anne Heche, Sheryl Swoopes, Lindsay Lohan, the list goes on and on). I’m sorry but that looks BAD, and makes it seem like being gay is a CHOICE. Call yourself bisexual or curious.
At least when gay men come out as gay, you know they’re 100% telling the truth. It seems that there is a definite split between what causes men and women to be gay. Gay men are born that way, and for women, it seems like 1/2 of the time, it’s their choice or fashion statement or attempt to be the trendy flavor of the month. Sorry, but this seems very fickle, disingenuous and difficult to understand.