And the winner/s is!!!! Drumroll Please...

Jill Bennett and Cathy DeBuono

First Runner Up

Anyone But Me's Nicole Pacent

Second Runner Up

Sweet CEO and C0-Founder Shannon Wentworth

more on next page...

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2009 went out with a bang for SheWired with ourGay Woman of the Year contest. And while it was a battle royale for the win for a while with Anyone But Me's adorable star Nicole Pacent giving SheWired vloggers Cathy DeBuono and Jill Bennett a challenge -- in the end -- Cathy and Jill ran away with 56 percent of the 28,804 votes cast! Congrats to the smart, hot stars of the Web series We Have to Stop Now and of The Gloves are Off and Cathy's What's Your Problem?, both on SheWired.

While Cathy and Jill won the day, Nicole made a very strong showing with 36 percent of the total vote. Between them, they crushed much of the competition except for Sweet Travel CEO and co-founder Shannon Wentworth, who has virtually changed the game for lesbians who want to travel while saving the world!

The criteria to land on our list our list was simple. The women had to be openly gay or bi and had to have made significant contributions to the lesbian community as far as visibility in 2009. Among the women on our list were Jane Lynch, Tegan and Sara, Rachel Maddow, Cherry Bomb, Kelly McGillis, Leisha Hailey, Brandi Carlile and more.

It is a testament to their individual and collective appeal, wit, charm and ability to give back to the community that Cathy and Jill were crowned the winners of our Gay Woman of the Year 2009 -- we don't actually have crowns for them but I think we shall have to get on that ASAP -- but the idea behind the contest was simply to shed light on so many amazing gay women whose visibility is so integral to the bigger picture of moving toward a more equitable and fair world in which LGBT people have equal civil rights. By virtue of being on our list, they are all winners.

Congrats to all of the women who graced our list this year and who will in the future! Since we aren't the Oscars or Golden Globes with a podium, we're considering a way we can get our winners Cathy and Jill and our first runner up Nicole Pacent, and second runner up Shannon Wentworth in a room for acceptance speeches!

Thanks to all who voted and Happy 2010 to you all!

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