OUTinPerth speaks to The Real L Word’s Lauren Russell ahead of her trip to Perth.
Most people will have heard of The L Word. It’s everywhere, and is probably on 90% of the lesbian world’s DVD shelves and if it’s not they’ve probably watched it. Who doesn’t love the idea of watching the ‘oh so un-perfect’ lives of the beautiful people that by some stroke of luck we can all relate to in some way?
After The L Word had been and gone, we were given the reality drama The Real L Word which followed a group of women, totally entangling us in every aspect of their lives. The first two seasons leads us through their Los Angeles tales of love, lust, heartache and everything in between. Season three brought a change, with some of the girls we had come to love, (and some we had come to not love so much) moving to Brooklyn. This in turn sparked the introduction of new cast members. Lauren Russell was one of those characters. Lauren fitted into the show like a dream with audiences falling in love with her stupidly gorgeous smile, stunning persona and down to earthiness.
Over the past 18 months, Lauren’s profile has grown; giving her jewellery line LYON which she launched in 2011. LYON is a brand that many would strive to be; designed with individuality, edge and identity, each piece holds its own and focuses on black diamonds, black jade and black rhodium plated gold and silver and is made with only ‘conflict free’ gem stones.
What is most interesting about the LYON brand is what it stands for. Lauren is creative and engaging and this is evident in each piece, but she is also a strong advocatefor people with disabilities, LGBTIQ+ rights and also has a strong political stance. Recently, Lauren launched a range of charity bracelets with anywhere from 10 – 20% of the proceeds being donated to a certain charity.
The Equality bracelet supports Friendfactor, an organisation that supports people who have friends or family who are LGBTIQ+. Live Beyond Limits encourages people to recognise the people that inspire you and supports Adaptive Action Sports, who work with people with disabilities to participate in sport. The Forward bracelet supports the Obama administration and the Vote bracelet supports Rock To Vote, an organisation that works to empower young people to vote, using music and pop culture to engage young people with the political system in the states.
The most recent edition to the charity bracelets is the silver Positivity bracelet which supports the New York chapters of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Recently Lauren was diagnosed with MS and plans to be involved in as much advocacy in the future as possible. While visiting her family, her eye sight started deteriorating to the point where she was completely blind in one eye. Upon further diagnoses, she was informed that she also had lesions on her spine and was put straight onto medication which has been effective to the point where her eye sight is completely rectified.
While her advocacy and philanthropic work will continue, her work with The Real L Word will not as they are not continuing the show in the same format. The show will start to focus on smaller towns and will follow more of a documentary format. Although the show will not be continuing, her profile is still growing with six appearances with Kiyomi McCloskey across Australia and New Zealand.
Lauren and Kiyomi will be at The Aviary in Perth on March 4. For more information on Lauren Bedford Russell, her appearances or her jewellery, head to her Facebook page www.facebook.com/LaurenBedfordRussell.
Alice Newport
