Julie Cypher

Julie Cypher, born August 24, 1964 in Wichita, Kansas, is best known as the former partner of Melissa Etheridge.

Cypher attended the University of Texas at Austin. She married actor Lou Diamond Phillips in 1986. In 1988, Cypher met Etheridge while directing the music video for the song Bring Me Some Water and split with Phillips in 1990 to embark on a relationship with Etheridge.

Famous for being one half of one of the first publicly lesbian celebrity couples, Cypher advocated for gay rights. She has also been involved in promotions for PETA. From her partnership with Melissa Etheridge, she gave birth to two children, a daughter, Bailey Jean, born in February 1997, and a son, Beckett, born November 1998. Although originally reticent, the couple eventually revealed that the father of both children was friend and rock star David Crosby. In September 2000, she and Etheridge split. It soon came to light that Cypher had begun to question her sexuality,.

Cypher married Matthew Hale in 2004.