Tag Archives: Lauren Morelli

Samira Wiley Touts Ellen as the ‘Lord of the Lesbians’

Samira Wiley was on The Ellen Degeneres Show for the first time.

However, Wiley revealed that she’d had a previous encounter with the host.

“I met you, like, really briefly one time. I know you don’t remember it because you’re Ellen, but it meant a lot to me because you’re lord of the lesbians.”

When DeGeneres pressed her as to where they’d crossed paths, Wiley ― who recently celebrated her one-year wedding anniversary with wife Lauren Morelli at Disneyland ― quipped,

“Probably at a lesbian event. I go to those sometimes. I see you at those.”

Later in the interview, Wiley touched on the cultural relevance of The Handmaid’s Tale, which returns for its second season this April.

Noting that the show’s iconic red costumes have been used in women’s rights demonstrations across the country, Wiley said,

“You see how much it permeates the culture that we’re living in right now. It’s everywhere.”

Watch the interview below:

Samira Wiley Releases Stunning Picture Of Her Wedding

Samira Wiley and Lauren Morelli tied the knot in March last year.

However, to celebrate the passing of the New Year, Wiley shared a beautiful and candid shot of their wedding, which took place in Palm Springs, California.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BddxqHZny4q

The wedding was intimate with the couple’s closest family and friends there. Wiley’s parents, who are co-pastors of Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ in Washington D.C, officiated the ceremony.

The couple were together for three years by the time Morelli proposed.

Daily Juice: Miley Cyrus Has Said She Is Gender-Neutral, Brandi Carlile Teams Up With Adele For New Benefit Album

The pansexual singer, Miley Cyrus has referred to herself as “a gender-neutral, ­sexually fluid person” in an interview with Billboard magazine.

Speaking about her appearance as a judge on The Voice right after the US presidential election, she said she had wanted to change people’s minds about gender. (Pink News)

Cyrus explained that she doesn’t feel like a girl or a boy:

I’m a little bit boyish. But I can also be super femme and dress as a bunny rabbit. Who I’m with has nothing to do with sex – I’m super open, pansexual, that’s just me.”

Singer-songwriter, Brandi Carlile, is enlisting Adele, Dolly Parton, The Indigo Girls, The Avett Brothers, and Pearl Jam to help her raise money for charity.

Carlile’s new album, titled Cover Stories, will feature fourteen different singers covering the queer musician’s original songs. Album sales will benefit War Child UK, whose mission is “to protect, educate and stand up for the rights of children caught up in war.” (Pride)

Newlyweds, Samira Wiley and Lauren Morelli, opened up to ET about their lives as a married couple and reflect on filming Wiley’s shocking ‘Orange Is the New Black’ demise.

We went to Italy and stayed there for a little while and gazed into each other’s eyes and had a good time,”

Cara Delevingne took to Instagram for a little self-effacing fun after the MTV Movie & TV Awards show. Amid the glamorous red carpet selfies, the model-turned-actress posted two pictures of herself making goofy faces from the MTV Awards and showed us that she can be an inspiration, even when she’s poking fun at herself (Teen Vogue).

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Caitlyn Jenner has responded to criticisms that she doesn’t reflect the experience of most trans people. Asked if she experiences male privilege, Jenner responded “Yeah! I would agree with that.” (Guardian)

Some of the criticism that my community has had is that I’m white, I’ve got money, I’m privileged and all that kind of stuff. I get that. OK? Can’t do much about being white. Kind of born that way.  Privileged? Yeah. I’ve worked hard all my life. I’ve tried to be as smart as I can and yeah, I’ve been successful from that standpoint. And I’m not going to apologise for that.”

A grade one teacher has gone on TV to tell a story about lesbians and cannibals, and it is incredible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-UrvBwGMaE

It’s Official: Samira Wiley And Lauren Morelli Are Married!

This weekend, Orange Is the New Black star, Samira Wiley, tied the knot with her longtime partner, Lauren Morelli, in an intimate Palm Springs, California, ceremony surrounded by family and friends.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSGsAsqg3SH/

The brides met while working on Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black. 

It was while writing for the hit show that Morelli, who was then married to a man, realised she was gay.

Their wedding took place in Palm Springs, California, and Wiley’s parents officiated.

Wiley and Morelli shared a picture, originally published by Martha Stewart Weddings, of them in their wedding outfits. Morelli captioned it “Wifey for Lifey”.

The wedding had a confetti theme, according to the wedding website, and the pair entered their reception to the strains of Justin Bieber’s Baby.

After the couple’s nuptials, Wiley shared an adorable photo of the newlyweds on her Instagram, captioning it simply “#wifed.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSHSGwcAvWl/

Samira Wiley And Lauren Morelli Tell Their Love Story

Most of us know the general tale of Samira Wiley and Lauren Morelli falling in love on the set of Orange is the New Black. That Wiley was an actress on the show and Morelli a writer who realized she was gay while working on the Netflix series and subsequently divorced her husband to be with Wiley.

But those particulars don’t touch on the emotions the women went through as they fell in love with one another and discovered things they never knew about themselves as they went from friends to girlfriends to fiancées.

Now, in an interview with Out, the two have revealed how the magic happened.

Wiley explained;

We spent four days in a row working together. Honestly, I thought she was gay the first time I met her.”

Wiley has been out for several years, a proud lesbian in a religious family. Her parents are pastors of the first black Baptist church to perform same-sex union ceremonies in Washington, D.C.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BLCCA6VA-cH/

Morelli says in the interview

I’d already seen Samira’s audition tape and immediately had a crush on her — the complication being that I was married to a man at the time. I came to New York to shoot my first episode. I was on set, sitting in front of the monitors, and she and Lea DeLaria, who plays Big Boo, walked up to me. Our set is like a lesbian utopia, and I remember thinking, They’re flirting with me.”

Morelli also speaks openly about the shift in her sexual attraction,

I had started questioning my sexuality as a result of being in the writers’ room and talking about all the themes on the show. I was very open with my husband and told him. That turned into a year of going to couples therapy.

I had a few queer women around me, but not many I could talk to about such a huge, vulnerable thing. Samira became my outlet, and through that process I fell in love with her. Being with her felt too good to be true.”

Morelli separated from her husband and began dating Wiley.

After working together, vacationing together and learning about each other’s strengths and weaknesses, faults and virtues, Morelli took Wiley away to Palm Springs in to pop the question.

Before heading out, Wiley said she couldn’t help but notice her girlfriend was acting odd.

She got home and was just not ready to go, and I was confused. She asked me to sit next to her. Then she got me up, and we started dancing together, and she pulled a ring from behind the couch. Lauren has been married before, so I wanted her to tell me she was ready, her to be the one to propose. I didn’t know she was as ready as she was. I was completely shocked. I was crying uncontrollably and kept backing away from her. I asked her after, “Who knows about this?” and she said, “Oh, everyone. Your parents know.” We didn’t tell anyone else for a few days. That was really important to us — to have some time where it was just ours.”

Morelli added;

I was so nervous and terrified she knew it was coming, but she was so shocked that I couldn’t get her to stop crying. She was hyperventilating. I thought, Oh, this is not good. This has gone too far. She was very clear she’d wait for me to be ready, so to give her something I knew she wanted so much was incredible. It was the most magical day of my life.”

Then they each posted the news on Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BLJayyeDrw4/

Wiley says

There’s this Sara Bareilles song we love called ‘I Choose You.’ For so long in our relationship, I wasn’t ‘the one.’ I was just waiting and being supportive of Lauren’s journey. To see her embrace her sexual orientation the way she has is like that song: ‘I choose this life as a gay woman, and we choose to spend this life together.’ I think — I know — I would not be where I am without Lauren. When I was first being thrust into the public eye, I wouldn’t talk about my orientation. Being with Lauren taught me self-love.”

Yes! Samira Wiley Just Got Engaged To ‘Orange Is the New Black’ Writer Lauren Morelli

Samira Wiley may have recently checked out of Litchfield, but Orange Is the New Black will still play a central role in her life, as the actress is now engaged to series writer Lauren Morelli, who she had been dating since 2014.

The pair announced the happy news on Instagram, posting a gorgeous photo of the happy couple smiling from ear to ear and Wiley sporting a shiny engagement ring.

Samira captioned the image with a simple, “Yes”.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BLJay2-At9T/

The pair fell in love on the set of the Netflix hit after Lauren split amicably from her husband of two years Steve Basilone.

Lauren says she realised she was gay on the set of OINTB after being peppered with questions from cast members about her marriage.

I was finally forced to consider a question that had never, ever occurred to me before: ‘Holy s–t, am I gay?’” she said.

We wish them all the happiness in the world!

In Her Own Words ‘Orange is the New Black’ Star Samira Wiley On Why We Love Poussey Washington

This story discusses plot points from the current season of “Orange is the New Black” that’s now on Netflix.


Yes, we’re still reeling after the gut-wrenching end of the show’s fourth season.

(Last chance to stop reading if you’re not caught up!)

Throughout the fourth season, we’re reminded of Poussey Washington’s potential as her relationship with Soso blossoms and she makes friends with her idol, celebrity chef Judy King.

Orange Is The New Black S4

But at the end of the season, things take a very sad turn.

Washington, played by Samira Wiley, is suffocated by a prison guard — one of “the good ones” — during a peaceful protest.

Now that the episode has aired, Wiley is discussing the tough issues that the finale scene forces into light, such as race, violence, and incarceration.

I just see so much potential in Poussey Washington. I root for her. I want to see her outside of prison, making it.”

The season’s final episode was penned by the actor’s real life girlfriend Lauren Morelli.

Wiley, who’s currently filming her next role, playing a therapist on the upcoming third season of FXX’s dramedyYou’re the Worst, sums up why everyone loves Poussey, and why her death will continue to resonate into Season 5 and beyond.

She’s honest, she’s funny, she puts a smile on your face. I’m so, so, so happy to have the opportunity to give life to someone like Poussey.”

OITNB Writer Lauren Morelli Dishes the Dirt on the New Season and Ruby Rose

In an interview with Liz Feldman on her YouTube chat show This Just Out with Liz Feldman, OITNB writer Lauren Morelli opened up about what life is like behind the scenes on Orange Is The New Black and what we can expect from the new season, which hits Netflix in June.

Morelli, who realised she was gay while writing on the first season of OITNB, came out in a touching personal piece, entitled ‘While Writing for ‘Orange Is the New Black,’ I Realized I Am Gay‘.

While talking with Feldman, she talked about how difficult the coming out process was and revealed why she decided to come out publicly. She is now dating Samira Wiley, who plays Poussay on the show.

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I hear that there’s a new lesbian character on the show, played by Ruby Rose… Is she as hot as she seems like she would be in person, is she gonna have sex on other women in the show and what can lesbians look forward to?”

Morelli responded

Yes, she’s as hot, yes… she definitely has sex on other people… Now I’m gonna get fired! Of course she’s having sex! I mean, she’s Ruby Rose! You don’t hire Ruby Rose and not have her have sex. That’s crazy!”

She also opened up about her relationship with Samira Wiley, who plays Poussay.

Feldman catches up with Uh Huh Her. You can watch more episodes of This Just Out with Liz Feldman on KitschMix.tv

‘Orange is the New Black’ Writer Lauren Morelli Speaks at Crossroads Conference

If you’re a fan of hit Netflix drama Orange is the New Black then you likely saw the OITNB story that made headlines everywhere last year.

No, not the headlines saying that season two was hilarious and brilliant (although it was, very much so) but that one of the show’s writers, Lauren Morelli, had discovered her sexuality whilst working on the show and so she divorced her husband and came out as gay instead.

With OITNB’s many queer pairings and the way that LGBT women are featured as real, relatable people instead of one dimensional tokens it was little surprise that the show had helped someone discover their identity.

Also: Our Wish List For Season 3 of ‘Orange Is the New Black’

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Now, Morelli is making headlines for having spoken at the Crossroads women’s conference in Pittsburgh. The event, which took place on the 10th of March, aimed to empower and uplift women by featuring relatable speakers who can talk about their stories.

Morelli says that women often choose to go it alone and feel as though they are the only ones in the world with that problem but “the idea of focusing a conference on navigating a crossroads is so interesting, because it’s an idea that’s so universal. I learned so much about that the last couple of years and what a difference it can make to just tell your story, to start sharing it.”

Heather Arnet, CEO of the Women and Girls’ Foundation (one of the event’s sponsors) stresses that the Crossroads’ timing was intentional. The event took place slap bang in the middle of Women’s History Month (International Women’s Day was on March 8th), a month that has already been used to bring to light the inequalities that women in this world face.

Arnet explains:

“We have a wonderful leadership program called Girl Gov for young girls, and we wondered, ‘Why don’t we have something like this for women? This conference is set up for pretty much any woman to attend, because we’ll be focused on the ways personal and professional lives of women intersect.”

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As part of that focus, the event addressed topics such as gender, sexuality and mental health as well as more business-like themes, for those looking to get ahead in their careers. Few conferences address this at all and so it’s no wonder that Tara Simmons, the Women and Girls’ Foundation’s vice president says that although “It’s a one-day conference” it’s certainly not just “a one-day thing”.

Changing the Face of Lesbian & Bi Visibility in Entertainment – The Women Who Came Out in 2014

LGBT people often worry about the ramifications of coming out to their families, friendships, work-places, and in their relationships. However, when you live your life in the spotlight the consequences of coming out can be harder. While coming out as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) in the entertainment world, sports or politics has become increasingly less taboo, these experiences are still extremely personal and not met without backlash.

This year we have seen a number of women celebrities step forward, and tell the world they are queer. So here is a list of prominent individuals who came out publicly this year.

Ellen Page, Actress

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Actress Ellen Page, best known for her role as a pregnant teen in Juno, came out as a lesbian during a speech at Human Rights Campaign ‘Time to Thrive’ youth conference in February 2014.

“I am here today because I am gay… and because maybe I can make a difference to help others have an easier and more hopeful time. Regardless for me I feel a personal obligation and a personal responsibility. I also do it selfishly because I’m tired of hiding and I’m tired of lying by omission. I suffered for years because I was scared to be out. My spirit suffered, my mental health suffered, and my relationship suffered. And I’m standing here today with all of you on the other side of that pain.

I am young yes. But what I have learned is that love — the beauty of it, the joy of it and yes even the pain of it — is the most incredible gift to give and to receive as a human being. And we deserve to experience love, fully, equally, without shame and without compromise. There are too many kids out there suffering from bullying, rejection or simply being mistreated for who they are. Too many dropouts. Too much abuse. Too many homeless. Too many suicides. You can change that and you are changing it. But you never needed me to tell you that.”

Ellen Page

Zoie Palmer, Actress

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Canadian actress Zoie Palmer revealed for the first time publicly that she is gay at the 2014 Canadian Screen Awards in March when she thanked her partner Alex Lalonde as she accepted her “Fan Choice Award for Favourite Canadian Screen Star”.

Palmer plays Dr. Lauren Lewis in the Showcase Canadian TV supernatural drama Lost Girl.

Patricia Yurena, Miss Spain

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Reigning Miss Spain Patricia Yurena came out of the closet via an intimate photo of her and her girlfriend Vanesa Cortes which she posted to Instagram. She is now the first openly gay national pageant queen in the world.

“I published the picture completely spontaneously and in an impulsive manner. Thank you for all your support.”

Said Yurena

 Angel Haze and Ireland Baldwin

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Ireland and Angel first sparked romance rumours when they posted pictures on Instagram. The rapper then confirmed their relationship in June, but admitted some people were still struggling to accept them as a couple.

“There are still certain limitations for women. If we were two guys, it’d be insane, negatively insane with the attention. With us it’s all being very positive, the media are like, ‘Oh they’re so cute, they’re best friends.’

An interracial gay couple, I mean that’s just weird for America right now. We f**k and friends don’t f**k. I have never f**ked one of my friends. Once I see you in that way, it doesn’t happen. But we do f**k and it’s crazy and that’s weird to say because I think about it in terms of an audience reading it and them thinking, ‘What the hell?’ But it happens.”

Angel Haze

Emily Rios, Actress

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Actress Emily Rios (The Bridge, Friday Night Lights, Men of a Certain Age and Breaking Bad) has came out as gay in 2014.

“I’m gay, personally, so being Mexican and a lesbian – this is why I love the character because I deal with the same type of things with my own family. Mexican-Americans especially — because this generation, we come into America and your family wants to be proud.

Emily Rios

Maria Walsh, the Rose of Tralee

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The Rose of Tralee is an international competition started in 1959 and open to women of Irish descent from all over the world. It’s held in Kerry County, Ireland and each year a woman who best matches the attributes “lovely and fair” as described in the nineteenth century ballad. This year, the winner was Philadelphia Rose Maria Walsh, and she’s gay, a fact she revealed shortly after winning in August.

“I’m confident in who I am as a person. The Rose of Tralee is about celebrating women’s intelligence, careers, their volunteer work. The question of sexuality never came up. To me, being gay is normal. It’s natural.”

Maria Walsh

Casey Stoney, Professional Football and England Captain

Casey Stoney

It was footballer Thomas Hitzlsperger and Tom Daley who inspired Casey Stoney, a defensive player for both the England women’s football and Arsenal Ladies teams, to say she is gay after years of speculation by fans.

“I’ve never hidden it within football circles because it is accepted. But to the outside world, I’ve never spoken about my sexuality I feel it’s really important for me to speak out as a gay player because there are so many young people struggling with being gay. 

You hear about people taking their own lives because they’re homosexual, now that should never happen. They should never feel those pressures. How can I expect other people to come out and speak about themselves if I’m not willing to do that myself?”

Casey Stoney

Djuan Trent, Former Miss Kentucky

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Djuan Trent, Miss Kentucky 2010, came out of the closet in March shortly after a federal judge ruled that Kentucky must recognize same-sex marriages from other states.

“For months, I have been contemplating how I would write this post, how I would position it, when would be the right time to post it. Should I make it funny? Should I make it mysterious? Should I make it serious? Should I pick a special date to do it? Should I build some kind of anticipation around it? Hmmm…ain’t nobody got time for that. I have written and re-written and deleted and restarted this post more times than I care to share, and after all of that I have finally realized: “There ain’t nothin’ to it, but to do it.” So, here we go folks… I am queer.”

Djuan Trent

Monica Raymund

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Monica Raymund, who plays paramedic/firefighter-in-training ‘Gabriela Dawson’ on Chicago Fire, came out publicly as bisexual via a tweet in January in support of efforts to protest Russia’s anti-gay laws during the Olympic Games.

https://twitter.com/monicaraymund/status/432669348281729024


Vicky Beeching

Vicky Beeching

When Vicky Beeching was diagnosed by with an auto-immune disease triggered by the years of stress, caused by being in the closet, she decided to reject the years of desolation the church, and decided to live her own truth. Beeching, the UK star of the American Christian rock scene, whose music is sung at mega-churches across the heartland, had had enough. In August she choose to come out.

“I increasingly began to feel like I was living behind an invisible wall. The inner secrecy of holding that inside was divorcing me from reality – I was living in my own head. Anybody I was in a friendship with, or anything I was doing in the church, was accompanied by an internal mantra: ‘What if they knew?’ It felt like all of my relationships were built on this ice that would break if I stepped out on to it.

When I [told a priest] that I had feelings for the same sex he prayed the prayer of absolution, for me to be forgiven. And that was it….I felt there was something really wrong with me, that maybe I was so sinful and awful I couldn’t be healed.

I felt like it was ripping me in half. I knew I couldn’t carry on. I was trying to align the loving God I knew and believed in with this horrendous reality of what was going on inside me….I remember kneeling down and absolutely sobbing into the carpet. I said to God, ‘You have to either take my life or take this attraction away because I cannot do both.'” 

Vicky Beeching

Lauren Morelli and Samira Wiley, Orange is the New Black’s Lead Writer and Actress

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In one of the best revelations of the year, was ‘Orange is the New Black’ lead writer Lauren Morelli, who back in May wrote an article for Policy Mic describing how working on the Netflix series helped her come to terms with her sexual orientation.

In September, Morelli appeared hand-in-hand at the Emmy Awards with Samira Wiley, who plays Poussey Washington on the show.

“I went through it all on set: I fell in love with a woman, and I watched my life play out on screen….And now, as we are gearing up for the release of season 2, it feels liberating and appropriate to live my life in front of you.”

Lauren Morelli

‘Orange Is The New Black’ Writer Lauren Morelli Comes Out

Lauren Morelli, a key writer for Orange in the New Black, came out yesterday in a touching personal piece, entitled ‘While Writing for ‘Orange Is the New Black,’ I Realized I Am Gay‘.

The article was then tweeted to her 5000 twitter follower with the following message…

“This is probably the most personal thing I will ever write, so the internet seemed like a good place for it.”

via @lomorelli

In this touching article, Lauren candidly reveals her very personal journey, which started around the time she started writing for OITNB.

“In Piper and Alex, I’d found a mouthpiece for my own desires and a glimmer of what my future could look like.”

Lauren Morelli

Morelli started writing for Season 1 only five months after her own wedding, and therefore the discovery about herself and her sexuality, came at a heavy emotional cost.

“In any story worth telling, there’s conflict. And so, while it certainly would have been disorienting to begin to question my sexuality after three decades of knowing myself, it was particularly blinding because I’d gotten married only a few months before. It was the sort of wedding that makes you believe in absolute partnership and the strength that can come from facing obstacles, like the life-threatening illness that my new husband had battled for the majority of our relationship. But he was healthy again, so we danced under strings of Christmas lights and drank fancy cocktails that were served in mason jars, all while being surrounded by the friends and family who had held us up over the previous six years.”

She not only had to mourn the loss of her own marriage, but the identity she had known all her life. She says:

“After lugging around a basket full of shame and guilt for the last year, there was a lightness that came with realizing that I could choose to replace my negative framing with honesty and grace.”

And when she wrote one of the most beloved scenes in OITNB, with Piper and Alex’s journey together; the “I heart you” scene in Season 1. It would turn out to be an important moment of self-acceptance for the writer. She continues:

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“…I was nervous about the first love scene I’d written for Alex and Piper. I’d loved writing it, loved watching a tenderness emerge in their relationship where passion always seemed to be the ruling principle, but by that time, I was so deep in my own self-doubt that I constantly felt like a fraud…”

“As I watched Taylor Schilling and Laura film the scene, one of our producers (as it happened, a gay woman) tapped me on the shoulder. She pointed at the screen and gave me a thumb’s up. It was a small gesture, but my first step toward feeling accepted and quietly accepting myself. In Piper and Alex, I’d found a mouthpiece for my own desires and a glimmer of what my future could look like.”

Read the full essay here.