As Ellen Goes, So Goes the Nation

When Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi got married in California in August, there were no protests, no career fallout, and no media backlash, just congratulations from all.

By Michele Kort

It was an archetypal People celebrity wedding featuring two of the beautiful people, one in pants and the other in a gown, and a dreamy setting with flowers, champagne, candlelight, the whole romantic nine yards. No expense spared, no fabulous purveyor left unmentioned. (Mark’s Garden! Zac Posen! Neil Lane!) The only thing missing: a groom.

But People hardly noticed.

And that’s what was most amazing about the August 16 marriage of Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi: People and other mainstream celebrity news sources didn’t treat the event much differently than they would, say, the arrival of Brangelina’s next children. CNN.com did headline the word “marry” in scare quotes, but the blogosphere outcry forced the site to make a quick edit. Other than that there seemed to be no backlash from the mainstream media or public.

What was once California dreaming has turned into a Golden State reality, and leading the way down the aisle -- as she has, so to speak, for the past decade of gay progress -- is DeGeneres.

She wasn’t the first celesbian (k.d. lang, Melissa Etheridge, and Chastity Bono were public about their sexual orientation before she was), but Ellen’s coming-out was certainly the most heralded. Who can forget the cover of Time magazine in 1997 with the headline “Yep, I’m gay”? The very acknowledgment of that fact was news and even warranted a full hour on Oprah. DeGeneres then turned her eponymous TV show character into a lesbian, coming out by sharing a kiss with guest star Laura Dern. And offscreen she began unabashedly parading her relationship with actor Anne Heche up and down red carpets.

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Name: Bruce Bennett
Date posted: 9/28/2008 10:31:00 PM
Hometown: Long Island, NY

Comment:
May God have mercy on these sodomites and may they discover what true love is: a relationship with Jesus Christ. Judgment day will be especially cruel to those who paraded their sin in public and caused many "little ones" to stumble. Peace and Love come only from the Christ who calls homosexuality an abomination. Repent and receive Christ as Lord and Savior and he will change your heart. By telling you the truth I am showing you love, those who support this sin are lying to you about how "chic" or "cool" it is.
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Name: Anastasia
Date posted: 9/25/2008 9:47:00 AM
Hometown: Moscow, Russia

Comment:
Only the best wishes for Ellen and Portia!Big THANK YOU from another part of the planet...
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Name: Larry
Date posted: 9/23/2008 1:50:00 PM
Hometown: San Francisco

Comment:
Wasn't it Emma Thompson who shared that great kiss with Ellen on her sitcom?
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Name: Berliner Mädel
Date posted: 9/21/2008 3:09:00 PM
Hometown: Berlin

Comment:
Hey, it was not such an easy thing to marry for them. Go and read what fanatic chrisitans write on Ellen´s website. Intolerance all over. What a shame! So not congrats all over.
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Name: Tim
Date posted: 9/18/2008 6:48:00 PM
Hometown: Bismarck, ND

Comment:
We gay men need a wedding between Michael Phelps and his boyfriend. ( Yeah, I know that is just wishful thinking) My Mother is a big Ellen fan and she never really talked about the gay issue with me until Ellen got married. Mom never had any daughters but she now has her foot on my six for me to to walk down the isle.
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Name: Meg
Date posted: 9/18/2008 5:17:00 PM
Hometown: Tampa Bay, FL

Comment:
Not only has she not suffered the slings and arrows of discontent, she will be the face of CoverGirl in January! So why is it okay that our neighbors think Ellen and Portia should be able to get married and we (my partner of 12 years and I) shouldn't? The answer is, they don't...only the loudmouth religious right who are more interested in making you afraid of SOMETHING, is still beating that drum to the thousands of Americans who still 'need' to be afraid of SOMETHING. VOTE!! VOTE!! VOTE!!
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Name: Larisa S
Date posted: 9/18/2008 4:30:00 PM
Hometown: Seattle, WA

Comment:
To be perfectly fair, George Takei and Brad Altman do not have the kind of star power that Ellen has. Have you seen either of them on the cover of any news magazine or mainstream magazine in the last year? Are either of them a spokesperson for a major credit card or product? It's not about them being male, it's about the fact that if People put them on the cover, the general reading public would say "who is that?"
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Name: Mark
Date posted: 9/17/2008 10:36:00 AM
Hometown: Tampa

Comment:
Robin said: "Two famous gay men getting married would not get the same reception in People magazine!" You got that right. Let's see if George Takei and Brad Altman's over-the-top wedding gets cover-story notice...anywhere.
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Name: ann-marie
Date posted: 9/17/2008 10:03:00 AM
Hometown: roswell ga

Comment:
Ellen and Portia remind us of who we are: the only mammals with a refined capacity to love one another. It doesn't matter which others we love. The important thing is THAT we LOVE. If we could only stop trying to regulate that, we'd all be in a better place...
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Name: Linda Duggins
Date posted: 9/16/2008 5:48:00 PM
Hometown: Turner, Oregon

Comment:
I lobbied in the 1970's during the Anita Bryant era. I strongly disagreed with her, but her negative campaign, mobilized our community. She became a blessing in disguise. The 1980's were not easy when radical Christians (who were not acting very Christ like) spewed angry fearful words blaming gays for spreading HIV and the AIDS crisis. They ignored in Africa it was more widespread in the non gay community. When the media began introducing people of color roles they were often demeaning. In early Pride parades the cameras swung to the most outrageous among us to cast a shadow on the GLBT community. It is true society teaches female couples are more socially acceptable than a male couple. Is that the right? No! But to gain ground for any minority group it is a process that takes time. We have to begin with conversations and programs like Ellen have achieved that goal. Congratulations Ellen and may the rest of us continue working toward equal rights for all GLBT people.

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