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In a recent RainbowWeddingNetwork.com poll site visitors were asked which individuals within our community lead the rainbow curve in 2008. The choice was difficult as so many have stepped forward in recent months to make a difference on behalf of the issues vital to LGBT equality. Included below is our profile of the person you voted RainbowWeddingNetwork LGBT Person of the Year - 2008. Congrats, Ellen
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Profile: Ellen Lee DeGeneres Ellen Lee DeGeneres (born January 26, 1958) It was in the late ’90s during the fourth season of her hit self-titled sitcom that Emmy Award-winning American comedienne/ actress/television host Ellen DeGeneres came out to the world on an airing of the Oprah Winfrey show. That same season her on-screen counterpart “Ellen Morgan” came out before millions of viewers, again through Winfrey, who this time took on the role of her fictional character’s therapist. From that point forward the show went on to explore various LGBT issues: the coming-out process, dating, dealing with the everyday perceptions and judgments of those surrounding us. It was a defining moment for our community: Never before had the issues that affect us on an everyday basis been brought before a national audience in such a non-threatening yet thought-provoking format. Since that moment Ellen has waved the rainbow flag, so to speak, before the American public. She has remained active in legitimizing our minority and taken us strides closer to moving beyond the long-lived stereotypes which have for generations restricted LGBT individuals in America, and throughout the world.
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In May of 2008 DeGeneres again took a courageous step forward by bringing the face of gay marriage before the American public with the announcement of her engagement to her partner of four years, actress Portia de Rossi (Ally McBeal, Arrested Development.) They were wed on August 16, 2008 at a small home-based ceremony in Beverly Hills. With the decision to share publicly such a personal aspect of her life, Ellen once again showed her ongoing commitment to the LGBT community. And she remained vigilant regarding the issue of gay marriage, working diligently to educate voters about Proposition 8 in California during the last months of 2008, contributing financially to the cause, and by welcoming important political players to her talk show in order to shed further light on the matters most important to LGBT citizens and our allies. So what’s next for Ellen? We can rest assured that she will continue to tell our minority’s story in a way that we can all take pride in, with humorous undertones and an overall message that LGBT Americans are not the social outcasts we once were… and that we too deserve fair and equal legal rights, protections and recognition for our relationships and our families.
Rainbowweddingnetwork MAGAZINE
Polling Results Breakdown Ellen DeGeneres: 29.29% Rachel Maddow: 17.17% Del Martin: 14.14% Wanda Sykes: 12.12% The LGBT Community for their Post Prop 8 Rallies: 11.11% Cody Horton and Christopher Lewis: 5.05% Keith Olbermann - as a friend of our community: 5.05% Melissa Etheridge: 2.02%