From my blog

DeGeneres was 'awesome boom'

How has the world changed for gay and lesbian comics since Ellen DeGeneres came out 20 years ago?

“I think it just got a little bit better,” said comic Suzanne Westenhoever. “It became a little more where a comic might be in Oklahoma City in a comedy club can be out. That’s definitely change. I’m not sure we can completely credit Ellen. That was starting to happen. She was the big, loud awesome boom. That was very helpful.”

She earns praise, too, for her contributions as an openly lesbian comic.

“I get a lot of thank-yous from younger comics when I do clubs here in Los Angeles if I do gay night, their gay pride,” she said. “It makes me feel so good. It’s so wonderful.”

Although her act is mostly personal, Westenhoever works in some jokes about President Donald Trump. She’s no fan.

“I do have some personal jokes about stuff that happened to me that was horrible and funny because Trump is president,” she said. “Comics, in general, we’re looking at the world. We’re news addicts. Even if we’re not political, it’s going to creep in.”

Trump supplies a lot of material, she added. “If you aren’t Stephen Colbert and doing it every night, it’s hard to keep up,” she said. “When you watch John Oliver, who I love, or Samantha Bee, some of the things they’re talking about is old news.”

Trump, she said, is “like gold. It’s like jokes are falling from the sky.”