22 COVER: LIGHTS, WOMEN, ACTION
Karate, chop! As Hollywood turns to Michelle Yeoh and her buff peers to carry its new crop of action films, Diane Anderson-Minshall unravels the per-sonalities, politics, and lesbian potential in the female action genre, from the Alien series to the proposed remake of Charlie’s Angels.

26 THE 1999 “SAPPHIES” AWARDS
Lisa Cholodenko’s druggie drama High Art sets a record with eight nominations and five Sapphies in our annual lesbian movie awards. Not far behind, the trannie Dandy Dust, the feminist Mulan, and the tragic documentary The Brandon Teena Story score big. Plus: Queerying the Oscars.

28 LOSING THEIR RELIGION
The 3.6 million-member Presbyterian Church USA is undergoing a painful—and potentially schismatic—struggle over the rights of its gay members and clergy. As the rest of Christian America looks on anxiously, Girlfriends’ publisher Erin Findlay zeros in for a report. Plus: How gay-friendly is your church?

34 WUNDERGARMENTS
With underwear like this, you’ll be depressed at the mere thought of over-garments. Photography by Bradford Noble

Books
Linnea Due unlocks the mystery behind Forrest’s Apparition Alley, McNab’s Past Due, and dykes’ obsession with the genre. Plus: B. Ruby Rich’s Chick Flicks, Cher’s The First Time, Tristan Taormino’s Best Lesbian Erotica 1999, and Denise Uyehara’s stint in O Solo Homo.

Music
Ani DiFranco and other gals with moxie are putting out on their own terms—labels, that is. Jen Hitchcock provides the latest guide to Candyass, Stilladyke, and other Sapphic indies.

Movies
Holly Hunter’s sex appeal and Queen Latifah’s mystery just barely manage to keep Living Out Loud from expiring outright. Review by Judith Halberstam

Videos
Once they were singers, now they are actors. But can Melissa Etheridge, k.d. lang, Madonna, and Courtney Love really pull it off? Reviews by Diane Anderson-Minshall

From the Editor: Inside Girlfriends
Letters: From Our Girlfriends
Update: News by Ann Rostown
Girltalk: Advice by Pat Califia
Soapbox: Patriotism rethought, by Lee Lynch
Check it Out: The buzz by Kathleen Hildenbrand
TravelLas Vegas, by Heather Findlay
Ask Doctor Dyke: Health advice by Beth Brown, M.D.D
Vacation Spots: Palm Springs, by Laura Black
Humor: If we ran the Oscars, by Michelle Balan
Horoscope: Spring secrets from Charlene Lichtenstein