Casey Johnson: Introspectively

01/06/09-by Natasia Rose
The media has been in a frenzy covering the tragic death of Casey Johnson, the heiress to the Johnson & Johnson fortune. Johnson first appeared on my radar when she began dating Courtenay Semel, another heiress who lived with Lindsey Lohan for a hot minute before Lohan met DJ Samantha Ronson. At the time, I thought it was great that two almost famous heiresses were out and proud. Johnson and Semel had a chance to be yet another example to the world of beautiful, successful lesbians. However, their erratic behavior that included violence and ended with one woman setting the other woman’s hair on fire, quickly excluded them from joining the ranks of positive, high profile celesbian couples.

After parting ways with Semel, Johnson became very publicly involved with Tila Tequila. Tequila is a bisexual who climbed her way up to fame from MySpace. She is best known for her MTV reality dating show, “A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila.” Tequila is also an ex-girlfriend of Semel’s. Johnson became more famous as Tequila’s fiancée than she had ever been before. They were all over red carpets, looking inebriated and making out in front of the paparazzi. Johnson got more airtime from gossip blogs than ever before. After her death, the media has sensationalized her story by frequently using terms like “Lesbian Lover” to describe her relationship with Tequila.

Johnson’s death is certainly untimely and sad. However, what I have been thinking about the most since her death is how she, and celebrities like her, have impacted the public view of lesbians and bisexual women. I don’t think that anyone takes these women seriously as role models, but they are very visible members of our community. Perhaps the tendency for most people is to assume that for most conventionally feminine women, lesbianism is a phase or done for the pleasure of men. Maybe no one takes party girls who look and act as if they are perpetually high seriously about anything, much less their sexuality. Thankfully, Rush Limbaugh and Pat Buchanan aren’t rushing onto the scene to hold up Tila Tequila and Casey Johnson up as examples of insidious lesbians running rampant and spreading their depraved values on society.  

Johnson was never on the path to be a leading lesbian spokesperson. But, she did live her life loud and publicly, proving that lesbians are just like anyone else. We can make mistakes, be vulnerable, be bored, hang with the wrong people, and fall madly and desperately in love.