TOPICS: Mainstream news media. Gay news. Lesbian and gay news. News on gay acceptance and gay entertainment issues. Gay and lesbian news. Gay PR. Gay equality. Gay acceptance. News media reports on gay issues. New York, Los Angeles. US. Ellen DeGeneres. TV. Mainstream TV. Entertainment. Sports, Business, TV PR. Time magazine cover. 1997. 2007. 10 years on, Gay Market News pays tribute to global lesbian icon, Ellen DeGeneres. This month marks ten years since Ellen De Generes, and her on screen sitcom character in 'Ellen' - Ellen Morgan, both came out of the closet. Ellen on the cover of Time magazine. You are at the Out Now Gay Market News -- Gay Marketing 101 gay market updates site. |||| To reach our main site on lesbian and gay market research, gay advertising and gay marketing strategies, visit OutNowConsulting.com.
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Here at Gay Market News we can confess to having a lot of admiration and respect for Ellen De Generes. We have covered Ellen DeGeneres several times before, most recently in recognition of her triumph as host of this year's Academy Awards Oscar presentations in February.
This month brings up a very important anniversary for the lesbian and gay community around the world and it is all thanks to Ellen.
Gay Market News proudly pays tribute to Ellen DeGeneres - now truly a global lesbian icon.
This week marks ten years since Ellen DeGeneres, and her on screen sitcom character in her TV show 'Ellen' - Ellen Morgan - both came out of the closet.
10 years ago, on 30 April 1997, the world was abuzz with gossip and massive PR and news media attention - all talking about Ellen.
In a world where gay entertainment is now a much safer sphere where gay and lesbian people can be out, and in marked distinction to gay sports players - and perhaps gay business including ex BP CEO Lord John Browne - it is salutary to recall that in 1997, it truly was major PR news that Ellen De Generes - the lead actor in a major network TV sitcom - was going to come out as a lesbian. And she did so with a bang - on the cover of the April 14, 1997 issue of Time magazine.
Ellen was not the first gay actor in Hollywood - she was just the first major TV star with the fortitude to go public. At that time it just was not done.
Stars like Peter Allen, Liberace and Paul Lynde had all professionally camped up their gayness in the entertainment business as parts of their act, but they and other stars had always studiously avoided saying those three magic little words: "I am gay."
Lily Tomlin had been offered the cover of Time magazine to come out two decades before Ellen but Tomlin chose not to do so - something that others, such as openly gay writer Armistead Maupin, were very disappointed with.
I recall very clearly the immense news media attention Ellen's coming out announcement on the cover of Time magazine attracted.
It could be argued that her TV ratings suffered as some viewers stopped watching their favourite show once the lead character became an out lesbian.
Others argue that the Ellen show was cancelled as the scripts stopped being funny enough.
Whatever the reason, the fact is that Ellen spent some years in the entertainment industry wilderness, and, after a failed new sitcom - 'The Ellen Show' - Ellen De Generes eventually returned successfully to mainstream TV with her own hit talk show 'Ellen', which is now broadcast on TV stations around the world.
Ellen is proof-positive that quality, and integrity, can always win out in the end.
She also opened up the gay and lesbian market as a visible and viable one - a legacy we all benefit from today.
I remember being asked to make a speech introducing the screening of a documentary of Ellen's coming out in Sydney for Queer Screen at the annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Film Festival. I made the remark back then and repeat now that one day gay and lesbian people would look back on Ellen's coming out as a landmark moment in lesbian and gay history.
After the 24 hour news cycle has moved on from covering Ellen, and her historic actions back in 1997, her history - and its importance to the global lesbian and gay community remains.
People will look back on 1997 and Ellen DeGeneres coming out as gay as a major tipping point moment - one that changed everything for all that followed.
This week sees Ellen in the news for being laid low once again - but this time at the top of her game on her TV show, presenting from her sick bed due to a back injury. As has become evident with Ms DeGeneres - she is not one to let obstacles stand in her way.
This seems as appropriate a time as any to say once again - thank you Ellen, and Happy Anniversary.
To better understand the strategic marketing implications behind gay and lesbian social and economic acceptance, contact Out Now.
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