Hillary Clinton, Lady Gaga, Shonda Rhimes, And Ellen DeGeneres React To Gay Marriage Ruling
Gay marriage is now the law of the land in the United States. As one can expect, there are plenty of celebrities who went on social media to celebrate. Some of them include Lady Gaga, Shonda Rhimes, and Sam Smith. Even Hillary Clinton got into the celebration.
Proud to celebrate a historic victory for marriage equality—& the courage & determination of LGBT Americans who made it possible. -H
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 26, 2015
Ellen DeGeneres celebrated as well.
Love won. #MarriageEquality
— Ellen DeGeneres (@EllenDeGeneres) June 26, 2015
Even though all the tweets mean a lot to the LGBT community, the one from Ellen DeGeneres could be seen as the most striking. Ellen DeGeneres is a key figure in the gay rights movement. She went against conservative powers in the 1990s in order to portray same-sex couples on television. The Peabody Awards site talks about the significance that “The Puppy Episode” of the show Ellen played in shaping gay rights.
“A landmark moment in television history occurred on April 30, 1997, when Ellen DeGeneres and her namesake character acknowledged their homosexuality simultaneously, and Ellen became the first gay lead character in a prime time television series.”
It’s easy to forget how controversial something like this was in 1997. As the A.V. Club noted, there were some major advertisers who bowed out on Ellen. ABC also declined to accept ad buys from the Human Rights Campaign. There were also ABC affiliates who refused to air the show. But the biggest fallout from Ellen was Ellen DeGeneres’s career; it took a major hit.
For the next five years, Ellen DeGeneres had a difficult time. Not only was Ellen cancelled, but DeGeneres was seen as a national joke that, perhaps, went too far by coming out on national television. The media covered her relationship with Anne Heche religiously and all the pressure made the couple break up. DeGeneres didn’t have success in Hollywood again until 2003’s Finding Nemo.
According to ABC News, DeGeneres said she came out on the show for the teenagers who contemplate suicide when they realize they’re gay. It was a huge issue then, and it is still a huge issue now. DeGeneres talked about coming out to her mother.
“We were walking along the beach and — with our pants rolled up and barefoot — and the water was coming in. I said: ‘I’m in love.’ And she says: ‘That’s great.’ And I said: ‘It’s with a woman.'”
Ellen’s mother, Betty DeGeneres, recalls that both of them cried. At least Ellen’s mother didn’t disown her — this is something that happened to many gay people in the 1980s and 1990s.
Many can accuse a lot of celebrities celebrating gay rights for jumping on the bandwagon. After all, many who are holding up rainbow flags certainly wouldn’t even think of doing so just 10 years ago; their careers could have been hurt. However, when listening to the Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage Friday morning, many in the LGBT community have Ellen DeGeneres to thank.
[Photo by Jason LaVeris / Getty Images]
