"Where Were You When Ellen Came Out?" Contest
by Sarah Warn, September 8, 2006

Before we became obsessed with Willow and Tara, before out lesbians hosted popular TV talk shows, and long before weekly L Word viewing parties became de rigueur, lesbians gathered in bars and living rooms around the country to watch Ellen DeGeneres' sitcom character Ellen Morgan come out on national television on April 30, 1997.

The star-studded episode followed months of speculation--and revelation, when DeGeneres herself came out--and
was controversial enough that many of us even watched the commercials, just to see which companies were brave enough to support us (for more on the controversy and
the events leading up to the "puppy episode", read our
Back in the Day column).

Whether you liked Ellen or not, whether you thought the controversy and subsequent cancellation of the show for supposedly being "too gay" helped or hindered lesbian visibility, this episode and the national conversation it sparked was undeniably a watershed moment in lesbian visibility because it put lesbians front and center in American pop culture for the first time.

With the release of the Season 4 DVD set on September 26th, this episode will now be available to entertain a whole new generation of lesbians, and give the rest of us an opportunity to reminisce--and marvel at how much has, and hasn't, changed in the last 10 years.

To celebrate the DVD release, we're asking AfterEllen.com readers to send us your stories of where you were when the coming-out episode aired, what it meant to you then, and--if you can remember--your favorite scene, line or moment in the episode.

We'll publish a handful of the submitted stories on AfterEllen.com on September 26th, and randomly select 5 of the submissions to win the Season 4 DVD set. There's no right or wrong way to tell your story--it can be funny or heartfelt, nostalgic or sardonic--but proper capitalization, spelling, and punctuation increases the odds you'll get your story published (we only have so many hours in the day for editing!)

Here are the details:

* Email your stories (no attachments please, just plain text in the body of the email) with the headline Ellen DVD Contest: YOUR NAME (with your name substituted for YOUR NAME--e.g. Ellen DVD Contest: Sarah Warn) to karman@afterellen.com by Sunday, September 24th.
* Stories should be between 25 and 600 words
* By submitting a story, you're giving us permission to publish it on AfterEllen.com, so your submission should be accompanied by the name you would like us to use with publication (if you want to be anonymous for privacy reasons, we prefer first name and last initial over nicknames), and your location, if desired (e.g. Sandra D., Seattle, WA or Tonya Blanton, Ohio). Email addresses and other identifying information will be not be published.
* DVD winners will be notified by September 26th.
* Submissions from international readers are welcome, but be aware that the DVD set will be formatted for Region 1 (so you will need a region-free DVD player to play it).