The logo of this site is a rainbow toaster with two slices of bread. When you look at it in its smaller logo, it can be easily mistaken for a rollerskate or a funny little car. And that’s all perfectly logical, but it really is a toaster, and it’s all Ellen’s fault.
One More And I Get That Toaster
Back in the 1990s there was a TV show called Ellen, staring Ellen DeGeneres. And one day, after Ellen herself came out as gay to the world, they aired the now-infamous “The Puppy Episode.”
The first half of the episode is a set up, where Ellen is meeting up with an old (male) friend, and they had some chemistry. But as Ellen quickly finds out, she doesn’t actually feel all that interested in him. She’s interested in his boss. Susan (played by Lara Dern).
A woman.
In the second half of the episode, Ellen is hanging out with Susan who, after hearing of Ellen’s disastrous ‘date’ with a male friend, admits that she thought Ellen was gay. Ellen, still claiming to be heterosexual at this time, says she’s not and becomes very flustered. She then accuses Susan of trying to ‘recruit’ her. Susan sarcastically complains she’ll have to tell National Headquarters that Ellen got away, and darn it, one more lesbian and she’d have been that toaster oven.
At the end of the episode, Susan brings Ellen to a coffee house where Melissa Etheridge ask her one question, “Are you gay?” When Ellen says she is, a very enthusiastic Etheridge has her sign papers and stamps pretty much everything, before handing Susan … a toaster oven.
The Video
In case you’re a little bit visual, here’s the video:
My favorite part is how excited Melissa is at the end.
So Why Not a Toaster Oven?
Because a toaster oven looks basically like a TV. When you add TV antennae to it, it’s worse. It was a box. But the toaster is close enough. And as we’ve added over 2000 queer female characters to this site, I’m sure we’ve got a toaster coming to us, one way or another.
