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Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the May 15, 1997
issue of Workers World newspaper
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"Ellen" coming out took years of realtime struggle

By Shelley Ettinger

When "Ellen Morgan" came out of the closet April 30, millions of people around the United States cheered. Nationwide, the reception to the first gay main character on a major television show was overwhelmingly positive.

Ellen DeGeneres, who plays Ellen Morgan, had herself come out as a lesbian several weeks earlier. Appearing on the "Oprah Winfrey Show" April 30, she said that since then she has been showered with support and solidarity-from straights as well as gays.

That night, the show garnered a 35 percent share in the Nielsen ratings-more than twice its usual audience and roughly comparable to the average rating for "ER," the number-one TV show.

Forty-two million people watched. It was ABC's highest-rated show so far this year.

The episode was funny and touching. Although it veered away from anything heavy, it did provide some sense of the struggle involved in coming out in a society that oppresses gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people in many ways.

Lesbians and gays gathered in small groups and huge parties whooped and cheered when "Ellen" made her big announcement. Parties were held in New York and San Francisco, New Orleans and Boston-but also in Lincoln, Neb., San Antonio, Detroit, St. Louis and dozens of other cities. At least one church-Riviera Presbyterian in Miami- hosted a "come out with Ellen" party.

In Birmingham, Ala., nearly 3,000 people filled Boutwell Auditorium. The theater broadcast the "Ellen" episode because the local ABC affiliate had refused to.

Before the show aired, members of groups like Birmingham Pride Alabama distributed literature, gathered names and made plans for future actions. Organizers said the Boutwell gathering was the biggest gay-rights event ever held in Alabama.

Media forced to change

The whole "Ellen" phenomenon reflects new social attitudes toward a community that had been rendered all but invisible by the entertainment media until the strength of a mass movement forced that to change.

Much of the media coverage, especially in the major daily newspapers, had a dual tone. On the one hand, editorials and commentaries allowed as how "Ellen" coming out was a good thing.

On the other hand, there was a snide undertone. The old "you've got a right but please don't flaunt it" hypocrisy was very much in evidence. And there was a lot of sniping at DeGeneres for making too big a deal out of the whole thing.

In response, one woman in a New York lesbian bar told a reporter, "People who say this is for publicity are people who have never had to come out."

Upcoming episodes of "Ellen" will show the character coming out to her parents, on the job, and so on. As for Ellen DeGeneres and her lover Ann Heche, currently starring in the number-one box-office smash "Volcano," some pundits predict their careers will decline.

After all, they point out, no big Hollywood star has ever come out of the closet during his or her lifetime-not Rock Hudson, not Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Taylor or any of the others. And none of the current crop of gay movie stars or lesbian talk-show hosts has joined DeGeneres and Heche in taking the courageous step of telling the truth, they say- because they know their fans won't accept it.

That line is tired. It brands the masses of people as homophobes-which polls show is less and less the case- instead of exposing the entertainment conglomerates for promoting and enforcing anti-gay bias.

But times have changed. Solidarity has deepened, and is growing. The naysayers and bigots don't admit it. But they can't stop it.

The wash of good feeling that accompanied the April 30 "Ellen" episode arose out of a movement that has mobilized millions to fight for full rights. If there's an attempt to orchestrate a backlash-whether it's initiated by Hollywood money interests or the Christian Coalition-it will undoubtedly unleash a new round of struggle.

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