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Ellen gets political and likes it (so do we)

Dorothy Snarker

Pop culture has already shown us The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, and now we're witnessing the politicization of Ellen DeGeneres. Since her “Yep” heard around the world 11 years ago, the popular talk show host has edged her way out of the closet of political activism. And this election cycle we've seen the most outspoken Ellen ever. It's proof that politics, when done right, is always deeply personal.

Yesterday, Ellen kicked off her show by addressing Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's support of the Federal Marriage Amendment that would create a constitutional ban on gay marriage in the United States. It was as direct a political statement as you can make. And, might I add, a quite effective one.

Ellen combined her signature good humor (“I dabbled in high school, who didn't? Everyone dabbled.”) with a clear political message to both refute Palin's stance and support gay rights. She said:

Maybe it's because I'm gay that I think we should all be equal. But I feel that we're all equal.... People are gonna be who they're gonna be. And we need to learn to love them for who they are and let them love who they want to love.

Ellen's progression from comedian to out comedian to out political comedian has been a long and organic one. Back in 1997, when she famously made the cover of Time with a “Yep, I'm gay,” she told Diane Sawyer that she wasn't interested in becoming a political activist. Now, more than a decade later, she has filmed a spot for the “No on Prop. 8” campaign to fight the California ballot initiative to ban gay marriage.

Since the announcement of her engagement and subsequent marriage to Portia de Rossi this year, Ellen has become more vocal about both her relationship and her politics. In May she had Republican presidential nominee John McCain on the show and pressed him on his stance against gay marriage. The exchange made for some uncomfortable moments for McCain as Ellen, politely, asked him to explain why she wasn't equal to her face.

While Ellen has spoken out before on other gay rights issues, she has often couched her remarks like in February when she addressed the slaying of gay 15-year-old student Lawrence King. Talking about the hate crime, she said:

I don't want to be political, this is not political, I'm not a political person, but this is personal to me.... When the message out there is so horrible that to be gay, you can get killed for it, we need to change the message. Larry was not a second-class citizen. I am not a second-class citizen. It is OK if you're gay... We must change our country and we can do it, we can do it with our behavior, we can do it with the messages we send our children, and we can do it with our vote.

For a non-political statement, that sounded pretty darn political. Since her marriage to Portia, Ellen has been a vocal opponent of Prop. 8, first blogging about it, then filming a campaign commercial, next talking about it on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and, earlier this week, asking Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden how he would vote (if he could) on the issue. His answer? A resounding no.

What makes Ellen's move from famously nonpolitical to outspoken advocate so extraordinary is that she has been able to do it without becoming polarizing. No one brings up Ellen's name when mentioning activist celebrities, nor does she get the derision sometimes heaped on stars like Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and even fellow out comedian Rosie O'Donnell. And I think the reason for this is simple: Ellen has spent all these years on her show being disarmingly likable. And now, quite simply, people trust her.

So, what do you think of Ellen's foray into the political arena? Do you think we'll see more of it after Nov. 4? And if she can get the potential next president of the United States to dance on her show not once, not twice, but three times, is there no limit to her political power?

Dorothy Snarker's blog

Submitted by

Dorothy Snarker

on October 23, 2008 - 2:00pm.

TAGS ::

Ellen

Submitted by

miniplenty (93 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 2:08pm.

I think Ellen has always been political simply by living the life that she has; she is such a genuine, beautiful person that she has elevated herself above people's personal prejudices. They see her as a person first, gay second. There's a relationship that's been established between her and the people. That gives her a lot of room to remind them sometimes how the politics are affecting her personally.

ELLEN RULEZ!

Submitted by

chilaxing (292 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 2:14pm.

Ellen gets her points across in a passive yet affirmative way, and I do think that she will continue her involvement in politics. She educates and informs without being aggressive and preachy. Who doesn't like a person, especially a celebrity who isn't afraid of making fun of themselves?

That's how I feel about

Submitted by

Obscure Object (13 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 4:09pm.

That's how I feel about her, too. Whenever Ellen talks about a serious issue she does so in a calm and approachable manner. It doesn't feel like she's overreacting and shoving her rash opinion down your throat. When pundits are getting overly technical and political about the issue of gay/human rights, it's nice to hear Ellen verbal-smack them back to reality by reminding everyone it's about love and human equality.

Did anyone notice how John McCain couldn't even look her in the eyes when he was explaining his support of inequality? Maybe he's finally starting to recognize his own assholery...

MCCAIN ON ELLEN

Submitted by

chilaxing (292 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 10:04pm.

Yeah I actually felt bad for McCain during that interview, guess he didn't know about the power of Ellen. He left the show looking like a loser for not supporting gay rights.

my answer dorothy

Submitted by

Captain Jax Havok (147 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 2:14pm.

is quite simply yes :] i would love to see more of ellen's political views in the future. it's true though after so many years if she wants to share her views people listen and respect her opinion because we trust her. she's always seemed like a level-headed person in my eyes :D degenerous in 2012! :D lmao<3

Ellen has transformed into an activist....

Submitted by

Michie87 (617 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 2:24pm.

well is clear that she is all for 8 (duh) and has helped a lot opening people minds and letting them see that being gay is not bad. And she likes Obama, obviously, but I think she should have asked HIM about gay marriage too, not just Biden and why does she only attack McCain and not Obama all the same?.... I am NOT goign for any party, I just think it would have been interesting to see her do the same thing to Obama..I am sick of her having him on the show >_< why doesnt she call Palin in and say what she said on the show yesterday on HER FACE. Ha!, I can only imagine whatever stupid excuse palin will come up with.

Ellen For President!

Submitted by

ClaireUK (47 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 2:20pm.

I really wish this was a global vote because, let's face it, the outcome will affect the entire world! I just pray that those American's who haven't yet seen sense, do so very very quick!!

On the Ellen front: quite simply she's amazing! The way she handles things, always with her unique approach, i really think the world would be a better place if we just made Ellen the President!!!

Ellen and Politics

Submitted by

Sportylady (480 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 2:26pm.

For a little while I was a little upset that Ellen wouldn't utilize her celebrity status to speak out politically. I thought for a long time, no matter how much I respected her, she wanted to be liked too much and maybe sacrificed her voice to earn respect from Hollywood and earn back an audience. When the US thinks about someone who is gay they think Ellen. She broke the mold in so many ways and in the past few years thanks to her show and her overall personality she's made it pretty okay to live an out and proud life. She has a voice that so many of us do not have with the power of TV and media, so she can be heard.

However, the responsibility shouldn't just lie on her shoulders alone so I can understand her previous stance on not wanting to "get political". But she would edge on speaking her beliefs but still fall back on her avoidance to be political. I'm speaking in circles as I've felt that she has. Her marriage to Portia has changed her outlook on a lot of things, especially gay marriage. She's right, everyone deserves the same freedoms and deserves to be treated as equals.

But I feel trust is kind of a strong word. If she can get the word out on Prop 8 then damn right keep on doing what she is. The general public is comfortable with her and she's worked damn hard to earn that respect. I still feel at what cost? She can probably more then make up for it though.

Ellen is a right-on woman...

Submitted by

Sista (69 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 2:29pm.

and I hope she continues to blend her important celebrity status and political messaging. I cannot, however, help but remember the path taken by Rosie O'Donnell following her "coming out." She, too, was considered the "queen of nice" for many years as host of "The Rosie O'Donnell Show." Sadly, her foray into the political arena came with great cost to her personally as we watched her downward spiral during her days on "The View." I still love Rosie, but I caution Ellen to take a more balanced approach. As the song goes, "A spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down..." Truer words were never spoken. Thanks, Ellen, for being the positive role model that you are. We owe you big-time!

I love her!

Submitted by

Kimmaayy..! (743 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 2:40pm.

I tivo her show everyday so I won't miss a second of her!

~Homosexuality is God's way of insuring that the truly gifted aren't burdened with children -Sam Austin~

way to go

Submitted by

A Muse (510 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 3:03pm.

ellen does it right. she waited til she had a solid foundation and actually could make a profound difference with her statements. if she had started doing that earlier it might not have the same effect as it does now. maybe I am giving her too much credit and the timing is all just coincidence... she has been getting a lot of crap especially from our community in the past years for not getting more political.

I like this "new ellen", that is finally openly talking about being gay on her show (quite often actually) and getting more into the political activist role a lot of lesbians always wanted her to be.

more power to her!

------------------------------------------------------
My Photography

I love the

Submitted by

Kimmaayy..! (743 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 3:17pm.

new Ellen too, but I wish she would have some lesbian characters on her show...Maybe the L Word ladies, or Melissa Etheridge...she always has gay men on her show.

~Homosexuality is God's way of insuring that the truly gifted aren't burdened with children -Sam Austin~

Yes! Yes! Yes!

Submitted by

zephyr (744 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 4:26pm.

Go Ellen! Thank goodness she has a network show where she can speak her mind like this. That's power. I hope she keeps on speaking out.

Ellen is Brilliant

Submitted by

idyphoto (32 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 4:57pm.

She has been extremely smart about how she has presented herself over the years. She hasn't been an in-your-face type of lesbian, but has slowly worked her way into mainstream America, allowing people to accept her on their own terms. The fact that she is more outspoken now is, to me, an indication that the time is right for her, and luckily that helps all the rest of us. Way to go, Ellen!

Go Ellen! And help boost the stats on YouTube!

Submitted by

CorkyTEC (16 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 5:27pm.

I’ve been following the stats on the video:

Ellen Urges Californians to Vote No on Prop. 8 on YouTube.

I even made a little post in the forum about it, check it out of you have the time!

I’m just asking you to add to the stats on YouTube (even if you already seen the video several times elsewhere).

Ellen deserves nothing less than 5 stars for that video!

The personal is political

Submitted by

vpierce37 (3 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 5:27pm.

Ellen goes to show what the truth is: whether race, gender, sexual orientation, or any other non-dominant class of citizen (or non-citizen as the case may be), the personal is political and those of us who are outside of the "norm" are viewed as the spokespeople for our group, whether we like it or not.

It's really nice to have other spokeslesbians as a model for the nation and world :-)

She is the best

Submitted by

mediamaverick (24 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 5:28pm.

thing to happen to us......people gave her crap about not being more political earlier, but I think she struck just the right balance...as you say, developing an audience, gaining trust, and now, utilizing her clout and likeability to represent "all" of us and our right to live our lives equally. From the moment she stepped out of the closet 11 years ago, to her gentle, but direct reminders that she is gay (and so are we), she has helped us bridge the gap, and erode the barriers based on ignorance. She is the proverbial, girl next door.....Thank you Ellen (and all those who are working hard this election year!)

.

Submitted by

rita (52 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 5:31pm.

am i the only one here who is against gay marriage because of my catholic upbringing?

Probably

Submitted by

Kimmaayy..! (743 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 5:40pm.

I'm not going to bet my life savings on it, but you are probably the only one.

~Homosexuality is God's way of insuring that the truly gifted aren't burdened with children -Sam Austin~

Come on, rita. It's not

Submitted by

NewHorizons (206 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 6:28pm.

Come on, rita. It's not about religious beliefs or religious marriage. It's about providing gay couples the same legal rights as heterosexuals. Unions and domestic partnerships do not provide the same 1000 legal rights including immigration rights that marriage does.

I'm sure God approves of love and compassion over judgemental, narrow attitudes.

If marriage was a religious institution maybe but it is not. Atheists, Agnostics and non-Christians can get married in the US, so it shouldn't be different for gay people. There is separation of church and state in the US, so let's not try to impose our own personal religious beliefs and ideas on other people. This law affects people's lives and if passed will set back LGBT rights for decades.

I also hope you are against condoms, non-procreative sex, sex before marriage and masturbation as well. Because all of them would be against your Catholic upbringing.

Well, rita, I'm against Catholicism

Submitted by

Nothing (468 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 7:32pm.

because of my religious upbringing. And, because nuns beat my mother while she was brought up in a Catholic orphanage; because priests sexually abuse children and have gotten away with it for centuries; and because I just plain don't like it. But, nobody is proposing we take a vote to ban the Catholic church.

Yes I think you are

Submitted by

Jackster (246 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 8:53pm.

Wow Rita.... Well, Im sorry that you have been brainwashed to believe thay gay marraige is a wrong. Thats really sad. But please, dont blame it on your Catholic upbringing. I'm Catholic, I went to Catholic school my whole life, and I attend church weekly. But I do have a brain of my own to figure out whats wrong and whats right.

Whats wrong is denying certain people the rights that EVERYONE should have.

Whats wrong is bringing religion into government policies even though we are suppose to have separation of church and state.

Whats wrong is not letting 2 people who love each other with all their hearts legalize their commitment.

Thats wrong.

PS. In all of the gospels Jesus never once brought up that being gay was wrong. And dont get me started on all of the outlandish things it talks about in the old testement. I suppose you believe in a talking snake as well?

Please stop using the Bible and religion as an excuse for ignorance. Jesus doesnt like that. He told me.

Yeah, I agree

Submitted by

Zee (296 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 5:53pm.

Yeah, I agree

I've been dreaming of her~

This season of Ellen has

Submitted by

bumbaradar (10 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 6:07pm.

This season of Ellen has been amaazing. Ellen is amazing. I'm loving how outspoken she is getting and her show counldn't be funnier. Everyone should watch her pull a hidden camera prank with Dennis Quaid and Kristen Chenoweth. It is the funniest thing I've ever seen in my life. I'm not kidding. Everyone should really check it out...

http://ellen.warnerbros.com/2008/10/ellens_hidden_camera_prank_at.php

http://ellen.warnerbros.com/2008/10/ellens_hidden_camera_starbucks.php

I've always admired Ellen

Submitted by

Nothing (468 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 7:37pm.

She is the funniest comedian, gay or straight, male or female. Why? Because she can tell a joke about ordinary, every day things and make you laugh until your stomach hurts. And, do it while not uttering one single foul word. It's the sign of a true comedian who can make others laugh without cursing. How awesome is it to have Ellen as an icon of the lesbian community? Nobody does it better, that's for sure.

I love ellen

Submitted by

A.n.n.y. (74 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 7:39pm.

I love Ellen SOOOOOOOO much!

Not in a creepy way. She is just AMAZING!

Gay Marriage in Canada

Submitted by

SweeTee (9 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 7:49pm.

As you all know, we have gay marriage in Canada. At one point, after the passing of gay marriage into law, the sitting government was overturned by another political party who had always stood strongly against gay marriage. So when they got into our parliament, they did another vote to see if the law should be repealed and guess what? It passed again! So that just goes to show that once something is given, it's pretty darn hard to take it away again. Hang in there...it's only a matter of time before more States join in and pass gay marriage laws and when they do, California will have big egg on its face for trying to repeal it. And if they are successful, Ellen should have Palin on her show to defend what she just did to her.

My favorite part.

Submitted by

Pyewacket (1814 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 8:45pm.

I loved it when Ellen speculated about Obama having a cabinet position for her.

Then she went on to say something to the effect that...since she had been in the closet for so many years, she's sure she could fit into his cabinet.

HILARIOUS!

Ellen rocks

Submitted by

delmacgirls (21 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 8:46pm.

OK so i am a huge fan of Ellen but for so many reason.

I used to also be a little frustrated that she wasnt more vocal on gay issues but after what she went through when she came out who could blame her.

i think her popularity is because of her honesty and genuine generous nature...she is on tv 5 days a week, out and talking about her life...sharing photos and video of personal moments.

I am amazed at the impact that she has had but i think its not always clear as its been so subtle and quiet.

I remember for the 1st few years of her show she never said anything about her GF but slowly slowy she would pop in a comment, Portia and i did this etc until now of course with the wedding its right there.

She has also done a walk over to portia a couple of times when she is in the studio watching...mainly at the end of the show etc.

lets face it...middle America loves her, peoples choice awards galore...she has seeped into the conciousness of people who would never have otherwise given us gays the time of day....bless her i say!

Leave the yelling to Rosie....i adore her for her passion and she is misunderstood unfortuately as she does so much good,....Damn that Hassleback women ewwwwww, dont get me started....anyway.... but Ellen does it her way and it works so you go girl and thanks to you!!!

Interesting blog post

Submitted by

Historymeg (11 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 9:30pm.

on Prop 8 and the media presence of lesbian women including Ellen D.

http://shackamaxon.wordpress.com/

A little bit long, but some interesting ideas and it gives Kudos to AfterEllen :-)

Could I love her more?

Submitted by

Caitlin (89 posts)

on October 23, 2008 - 11:35pm.

There aren't enough words in the dictionary to describe how much I admire Ellen DeGeneres. I love that she's been doing these PSAs on her show - but I just don't want to see her go overboard. She has done so much for the gay community simply by showing the world that she is a normal person. Unfortunately, pushing the issues too much could drive people away. But I suppose it's appropriate around election time.

Just keep on doing what you've been doing, Ellen. It's working. :)

I don't think I could

Submitted by

jamlawgirl (424 posts)

on October 24, 2008 - 12:03pm.

I don't think I could possbly love Ellen any more or my heart will literally burst. *sigh*

Rock on

Submitted by

coolembo (11 posts)

on March 22, 2009 - 9:11am.

Ellen manages to get political but adds a bit of comedy in it so its accepted which needs to happen more unlike rosie o'donnell who just used to yell her head off on the view, not that I didn't find it funny its just it was a bit OTT.

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