On April 30, 1997, actress Ellen DeGeneres made a TV milestone when she decided to come out as gay on her sitcom show “Ellen”. Although there have been other characters on famous TV shows that were gay, she was the first main character on a TV show to particularly focus on being gay. According to an article in the New York Times, “…the situation comedy attracted the biggest rating of any regularly scheduled show on the network this season, attracting an estimated 42 million viewers,” (New York Times). DeGeneres previously came out herself to the public as being gay before her character came out on the show. Coming out as gay during the 1990’s was portrayed in multiple ways, whether it was accepting it or not, or to completely not understand how one can be gay
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Most articles were concerned as to how this would affect her career and herself as a person. When DeGeneres decided to come out, society portrayed this in a mixed manner. However, the articles also show that she was perceived as a leader and an inspiration to not only the gay community, but also the straight community, especially during this time period.
When Ellen DeGeneres decided to publically come out as a lesbian in TIME magazine, one of her most famous interviews about her gender identity was with Oprah Winfrey. She agreed to this interview the day of her episode where her character, Ellen Morgan, came out on
Payne 2 the show. On Oprah’s show, this allowed the public eye to get an accurate primary answer from
Ellen herself, instead of the media, as to why she decided to come out and how this has affected her. This also gave people from the public their chance to express their concerns and opinions concerning DeGeneres’ decision. During this interview, there were negative opinions expressed from Winfrey’s audience. The most famous religious opinion that negatively spoke about
DeGeneres came from Reverend Jerry Falwell that said, “…no one wants to invade her
Most articles were concerned as to how this would affect her career and herself as a person. When DeGeneres decided to come out, society portrayed this in a mixed manner. However, the articles also show that she was perceived as a leader and an inspiration to not only the gay community, but also the straight community, especially during this time period.
When Ellen DeGeneres decided to publically come out as a lesbian in TIME magazine, one of her most famous interviews about her gender identity was with Oprah Winfrey. She agreed to this interview the day of her episode where her character, Ellen Morgan, came out on
Payne 2 the show. On Oprah’s show, this allowed the public eye to get an accurate primary answer from
Ellen herself, instead of the media, as to why she decided to come out and how this has affected her. This also gave people from the public their chance to express their concerns and opinions concerning DeGeneres’ decision. During this interview, there were negative opinions expressed from Winfrey’s audience. The most famous religious opinion that negatively spoke about
DeGeneres came from Reverend Jerry Falwell that said, “…no one wants to invade her