In light of all that has happened in the last few months with transgender rights and in the last few years with LGBT rights, there are few gay icons who have maintained their success throughout the years. If you don't know who Ellen Degeneres is, she is the funny blonde that has her own talk show and has been a frequent host of different award shows. She's been around since the late 1980s when she first did her stand-up on the Johnny Carson Show and apparently, after her set he invited her to sit and chat with him for a few minutes in front of a live studio audience. Back then, that was a really big deal. So now that you folks have a little background on her, let's get down to business about recognizing why this woman's so amazing.
1) Despite losing work after coming out as a lesbian on her show Ellen in the mid-1990s, she still managed to find minor roles in films and did frequent stand-up routines around big cities. In 2003, she began her talk show, which is still airing new episodes to this day. Now, she is one of the most influential celebrities of the last three decades.
2) Ellen and wife, model/actress Portia de Rossi, are one of the most famous couples in modern-day Hollywood and are arguably the most well-known lesbian couple in the world. They have been together for eight years and that's a long time considering how fast we all know celebrity marriages typically last.
3) She is an animal rights activist. If you are familiar with Ellen and her life, you know that she loves all kinds of animals and does a lot of work with PETA, has several animals of her own and often does whatever she can to rescue animals who are being abused. She even cried on her talk show when one of her dogs died.
4) Ellen is very generous. To me, she is like Oprah in many ways. They both give out massive gifts to their audiences, they often do great life-changing things for people and they both mentor young people. I think the main difference between Ellen and Oprah is that Ellen is a comedian and therefore has comedic timing.
5) Ellen is an awesome dancer. She dances at the beginning of every show. She moves through the audience and feeds off of their energy. She doesn't necessarily dance to the beat of the music, but rather a beat only she can hear. She's uncoordinated, which is often funny and makes the audience laugh.
All in all, Ellen has a lot of good qualities and she is resilient. She has paved the way for many people that are struggling to be who they are and also for female comedians and performers. She is a true hero.
