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Couric, DeGeneres Talk Idol, Gay Rights


KATIE COURIC ELLEN DE GENERES SCREENGRAB X390

Katie Couric sat down with Ellen DeGeneres for an in-depth interview about the comedian’s journey from coming out on the cover of Time to becoming the host of her own talk show, including her fight for acceptance and compassion.

“I think there are a lot of people who are probably fans of the show, but if their kid came home and said [‘I’m gay’] they’d ... It’s baby steps, you know," DeGeneres said.

DeGeneres talks about a girl who came to watch a taping of the show and shared that her mother was a huge fan of both hers and Portia’s (de Rossi, Ellen’s wife). That same mother, DeGeneres added, had chastised her daughter for looking too much like a "dyke."

The two also discuss tolerance and the battle to accept people who don’t accept you.

“Let's take, for example, someone who is antigay — someone who despises homosexuals ... who I am. I have to remind myself, if I hate that person, if I judge that person, I’m the same as them," DeGeneres said.

Couric and DeGeneres also talk about American Idol and same-sex marriage. Watch the clip here.


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FILE UNDER:  American IdolEllen Degeneres

Reader Comments
  • Name: Carol
    Date posted: 2/4/2010 4:43:02 PM
    Hometown: MO

    Comment:

    It's a lot easier to be charitable of how people treat you if you have made it to the top of your profession as Degeneres has and other celebrities. If you work at Macy's you suffer more. She had support from her mom and others, also. Many GLBT have no support, except from their friends.

  • Name: Dlev
    Date posted: 2/3/2010 11:14:13 PM
    Hometown: Brooklyn

    Comment:

    I think Ellen is simply adopting a similar philosophy to MLK and Ghandi. It's not necessarily productive to strike back with venom and intolerance. I think that by being a public figure who is well-liked is the greatest service she can give towards achieving equality. I don't think she tolerates homophobia and hate. I think she attempts to understand others' perspectives and figure out how she can shift their views constructively.

  • Name: mike
    Date posted: 2/3/2010 8:04:47 PM
    Hometown: cincinnati

    Comment:

    Ellen wants to take over the world. She says it daily. She wants as many fans as possible. She is not going to make waves. She lost her first tv show for being too open. The public wants gays to keep their mouths shut and to stay in the closet. It is more comfortable for them. Sorry, but it is leaving gays with their second class citizenship. We need to speak up and act out so that we are treated as equals. We don't have to be loved by all, but we have as much right to the possibility as any other citizen of this country.

  • Name: Ben
    Date posted: 2/3/2010 7:18:23 PM
    Hometown: NY

    Comment:

    Mike is right, it is really an error to equate the two. It's like saying that a Nazi in Hitler's Germany who hates Jews, and is in a political position to make them suffer, is the same as a Jew who hates Nazis. There are times when a strong animus against a person is irrational, and times when it is understandable. Context makes all the difference.

  • Name: Mike
    Date posted: 2/3/2010 4:25:36 PM
    Hometown: Buffalo

    Comment:

    "Lets take, for example, someone who is antigay – someone who despises homosexuals… who I am. I have to remind myself, ‘If I hate that person, if I judge that person, I’m the same as them." Such passiveness considering society makes value judgments all the time. It's bad to murder, it's wrong to steal, etc. Why should we exclude people that seek to treat others as fundamentally inferior any differently? It isn't wrong to be intolerant of things that are intolerable.



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