Alongside being an immensely talented actor, Lily Tomlin has stood for many causes close to her heart. In 2019, she appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show where she spoke about her wife Jane Wagner (pictured, left) and why she didn't want her sexuality to overshadow her career, especially when Time Magazine wanted to put her on the cover in 1975.
"I decided that I just wasn't going to play their game," Tomlin explained. "I wanted to be acknowledged for my performance." She later quipped," I can see in retrospect, that was hardly worth it."
Throughout her career, Tomlin has been an advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community. Speaking with Metro Weekly she said, "I'm so proud of this community, and what it's accomplished in such a short time. I never dreamed in the '60s and '70s that all this would ever happen so quickly. The community has just always been there for each other. I just love it."
The Guardian outlined that Tomlin was a trailblazer without really knowing it, advocating for equal rights, feminism, and equal pay and treatment. This extends to her advocacy for domestic workers' rights. In Ms. magazine she wrote, "Work that happens inside the home deserves to be valued the same as any other job and ought to have the same protections. ... I stand with domestic workers in their fight to win health and safety protections." It'd seem that she's a formidable force on and off-screen.
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