In 1997, DeGener chose a very public fom — her televisn s — to announce, "I'm gay." The entertaer's reer has tracked the seismic shift public opn on gays and same-sex marriage.
Contents:
- THE REAL REASON ELLEN DEGENER DECID TO COME OUT AS GAY ON TV
- READ THE 'YEP, I'M GAY' ELLEN DEGENER INTERVIEW FROM 1997
- HOW ELLEN DEGENER HELPED CHANGE THE CONVERSATN ABOUT GAYS
- ELLEN DEGENER ON COMG OUT AS GAY: “I DIDN’T THK I WAS GOG TO COME OUT, PERD”
- ELLEN DEGENER IS THE MOST VISIBLE GAY OR LBIAN PUBLIC FIGURE AMERI
THE REAL REASON ELLEN DEGENER DECID TO COME OUT AS GAY ON TV
Ellen revealed that the shownners were "livid" when they found out about her plan to e out as gay. * ellen degeneres not gay *
When she featured two bt iends on her show -- one gay, the other straight -- who attend prom together. When she spoke out agast hate and advoted for tolerance after the murr of Matthew Shepard, an openly gay man who was btally killed Wyomg. Two s ago, she ma history by beg the first openly gay actrs to play an openly gay character on televisn -- sparkg a natnal nversatn by puttg LGBTQ issu ont and center.
Ellen revealed that the shownners were "livid" when they found out about her plan to e out as gay. " DeGener thought that there had been gay characters on TV before but there hadn't been a character who disvered their te sexual orientatn late life. On “The Puppy Episo” Season 4, which aired on April 30, 1997, she ma history by g out as gay on TV.
And I knew that there was a possibily that people would hate me for the simple fact that no matter how much they loved my edy or my show, but they might hate me if they knew I was gay. She saw an easy transn for her character, Ellen Man, to realize that she was gay, too, “which was why her relatnships wh men weren’t workg out, ” she said. She also alleged that fellow LGBTQ celebs such as Elton John told her to “shut up already” about beg gay the aftermath.
READ THE 'YEP, I'M GAY' ELLEN DEGENER INTERVIEW FROM 1997
The April 14, 1997, issue of TIME featured a s-down wh the edian, who nfirmed that her s character was gay—and so was she. * ellen degeneres not gay *
“They said: she’s a gay woman, and the women at home watchg daytime TV are straight hoewiv wh kids – what do she have mon wh them?
It was on the April 14, 1997, ver of TIME magaze that Ellen DeGener, then the star of the s Ellen, nfirmed somethg she’d been buildg up to for s: “Yep, ” as the ver put , “I’m gay.
She would be playg the first gay lead character on Amerin work televisn. Penney, ironilly, as that pany would later hire DeGener for an ad mpaign that would turn draw s own ntroversy — and the natn bated whether the show would “legimize” a facet of life that was still margalized, or if merely proved that homosexualy was already accepted by enough of the populatn that such a plot twist was possible.
HOW ELLEN DEGENER HELPED CHANGE THE CONVERSATN ABOUT GAYS
TIME: So, for the rerd, are you yourself gay? ” I never wanted to be the spokperson for the gay muny.
TIME: Is beg gay somethg you stggled wh? My first gay experience was lerally someone else’s ia–I was eaked out even by the thought of . The AIDS epimic was at s height, and while there was already a burgeong gay-rights movement, a lot of homosexuals were not ready to e out of the closet.
"What's wonrful about her, as a cultural figure, is that worked so wonrfully alongsi polil activism, " says Jsi Halem, a edian and gay-rights activist.
ELLEN DEGENER ON COMG OUT AS GAY: “I DIDN’T THK I WAS GOG TO COME OUT, PERD”
" Halem says is no accint that was a edian who took the nversatn about homosexualy to a new level.
As she stggl to adm she is gay to a woman she is attracted to, she accintally leans over an open mike and announc to the whole wag room. "That scene is jt so betiful, bee there's nothg like tellg someone you're gay and then go silent, " Halem says. "But for her to say, 'I'm gay' and 's a lgh le, and you know lets lgh, lets release some of the anxiety.
ELLEN DEGENER IS THE MOST VISIBLE GAY OR LBIAN PUBLIC FIGURE AMERI
" Followg that terview, DeGener acced Jenner of passg "judgment agast gay people and marriage" durg an terview wh Howard Stern. When Ellen DeGener me out as a gay woman back 1997, she was one of the first to break the Hollywood mold. “It was sry and crazy and what me out of listeng to what I had been sayg to myself was, ‘Would I still be famo, would they still love me if they knew I was gay?
“It was tertg to me that I was more relatable when I was closeted and dishont than when I me out, ” she she me out of the closet 1997, the first out lbian lead of her own s, “Ellen, ” she beme a huge star, on the ver of Time, acpanied by the headle “Yep, I’m Gay. Acrdg to DeGener, her straight dience left her and she received woundg cricism om gay viewers for not beg polil enough. Not only was the edian and televisn host by far the most equently ced example of a gay or lbian public figure the general-populatn survey, she and Print Obama were the lears when LGBT Amerins were asked to name a well-known figure who’s been important advancg the rights of LGBT people.