Lauren Morelli tells stories we don’t usually hear. She got her big break writing scripts that centred marginalised female characters on Orange Is The New Black. Every time she shares a selie featuring her wife Samira Wiley, she is telling a powerful, visual story about an interracial lesbian couple who adore each other. And now, as showrunner for Netlix’s Tales Of The City, based on Armistead Maupin’s legendary novels and starring lez royalty Ellen Page, she is creating space once again for underrepresented LGBTQI stories.
These stories include, but are by no means limited to: a found family of queer folk living together at San Francisco’s 28 Barbary Lane, a lesbian coming to terms with her transgender boyfriend’s evolving sexuality, and a trans woman torn between her need to protect her community and her desire to be loved. These are stories we need to hear, stories that aren’t told enough, stories I’ve never seen before on the small screen. But in this sea of urgent, groundbreaking, nuanced narratives, it’s Lauren’s own story that reads like the most fated fairytale of all. Hers is a voyage of self-discovery, a quest to ind her purpose and a sweeping same-sex romance chronicling the rocky path to life-altering love. But more on that later.
Serendipitously, I’m interviewing Lauren on Lesbian Day Of Visibility. From one enthusiastic lezza to another, I start by wishing her many homosexual happy returns. “And to you! What an exciting day for us to be talking,” she replies warmly, the ear-to-ear grin I’ve seen all over Instagram radiating down the phone line from LA to London. Lauren is excellent company – genuine, joyful and utterly charming. She’s both an engaging conversationalist and an attentive listener. A born geek, she admits, “I went through a weird phase at 10 years old, collecting vintage top hats. It’s like, that’s why kids were making fun of you, because you were a weirdo!” Naturally, this revelation makes me like her even more.