A long-winded, much needed THANK YOU

Hi Tracy and Stamie, my name is Julie, I’m from Portland, OR and I moved out to NYC about a year ago. I had to write to you because I finally had a chance to sit down and check out your site, and despite not having much of a history of participating in/contributing to blogs and sites, I definitely felt the need to comment on yours. I never really felt that it made much sense to reach out to celebrities only because I always assume they won’t have time/care about what I have to say, but you two have made yourselves so accessible to your fans and actually seem to truly care, and I wanted to take advantage of this rare opportunity to tell you just how awesome I think you are.

I’m a new fan of TRLW, and I have to say I really connected with you two. I believe that your presence on the show was for a greater overall purpose, and you have proven that with ourfifteenminutes.com, along with your many other points of accessibility. What you have done and continue to do is so unbelievably important, and completely unprecedented.
The beautiful thing about your efforts and outreach is that you’re reaching so many people on so many levels. While some people need support as they work on coming out in a hostile community/environment, others, like myself, are just happy to have a positive and almost tangible (in a manner of speaking) role model couple to whom we can look for direction, or even just to know that passionate monogamous long term lesbian relationships are more than just a figment of our imaginations. And by the way, when I say tangible, I just mean that you’re relatable and not so far removed from us normal everyday folks (who don’t have TV shows about our lives), because you are able to interact with so many of your fans, which gives you a very rare but very significant power.
Before you, all we really had were Ellen and Portia (don’t get me wrong, I’m a HUGE fan of theirs – surprise surprise – but they’re such a high profile couple (and individuals) that there is no way they can offer the kind of one-on-one attention you give your fans. And I just wanted you to know that while I don’t have to look to your site for support in coming out (and for that I am grateful), I do look to you two if I’m feeling skeptical about the plausibility of finding a truly good person with whom I can spend the rest of my life, and know without a doubt, that we will be together forever, without the stress and worry of infidelity and heart-wrenching messy endings.
I’m only 23 and am not interested in settling down right now, but I do have a pretty good idea of what I want in the future, and your relationship embodies it all so perfectly. And at the risk of sounding slightly melodramatic, I was becoming a bit of a Bitter Betty and was convinced that two women could not have what you two have.
So from the bottom of my heart, and on behalf of those of us who feel connected to you in one way or another, I thank you for sharing your stories and your lives with the world.
Without the show and your dedication to creating and maintaining a place for people to utilize ‘your fifteen minutes’, there would be a countless number of lost/skeptical/confused/terrified/ashamed/angry/closeted souls out there.

What you have started is only the beginning, you’re like the Lewis and Clark of the LGBT community, a couple of “lesboneers” if you will (…you know, like lesbian pioneers…? As you can see, I sometimes have a very ‘dad’ like sense of humor. I am my father’s daughter, what can I say…) and essentially what this all boils down to is a big fat thank you for making yourselves visible and accessible, we needed to know people like you are out there! We needed a little hope, and that’s exactly what you’ve given us. 🙂