In the twenty years since then, a miracle has occurred: America changed its mind. Some part of me was paying close attention, and it unquestioningly absorbed the lesson of that day: if you are gay, keep it to yourself or suffer the consequences. But like a lot of childhood memories that touch even glancingly on the subject of homosexuality, I remember it with near-perfect clarity. I was nine years old, and a decade away from the blinding realization that yep, I'm gay too. It wasn't hateful no one accused her of being unnatural or disgusting, merely suicidally naive. The memory I have is of hanging on my dad's waist and hearing one of my aunts say "Well, what did she expect?" to the general assent of all the grown-ups.
Ellen's coming out was a test case for public acceptance of homosexuality, and in 1997, it certainly seemed to have failed.Įllen had counted on a level of tolerance that did not then exist, and on that Sunday, it seemed certain she would pay for it with her career.
LISTENING VS HEARING ELLEN DEGENERES TV
Advertisers pulled from her show, Christian groups boycotted ABC (and Disney, its parent company), and Jerry Falwell famously referred to her as " Ellen DeGenerate." Despite the crop of gay TV characters who began to appear after she came out ( Will and Grace premiered the following year), Ellen itself lasted only one more season, several episodes of which were prefaced with a parental advisory warning. But it was quickly overwhelmed by the backlash. The simultaneous coming-out of Ellen DeGeneres, America's goofy kid sister, and Ellen Morgan, the character she played on her wildly popular sitcom Ellen, was a historic moment for the LGBTQ community-a mainstream celebrity was walking out of the closet of her own free will, and the title character of a hit TV show was going to take America along for the ride.
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