I felt old today as I realized that Ellen, Ms. DeGeneres’ first television show, premiered in 1994 — 20 years ago. Of course, most of us remember best the 1997 episode in which she came out as a lesbian. Writer Emma Tattenbaum-Fine recently recalled watching the show with her two moms. “The night Ellen came out, I felt my family got an invitation to the party,” she says in the video below.
Yep. Media representation matters. Bonus fun fact: ABC placed a parental advisory at the beginning of Ellen episodes that dealt with her coming out. Now, ABC Family airs The Fosters, where they don’t (and shouldn’t) put up parental advisories even for scenes like this. Isn’t progress grand?