In her show’s opening monologue yesterday, Ellen DeGeneres touched on the Prop 8 ruling before moving to the demand that JC Penney’s fire her as their spokesperson because of her “lifestyle”.
“This organization (One Million Moms) doesn’t think I should be the spokesperson because I’m gay. For those of you who are just tuning in for the first time, it’s true. I’m gay. I hope you were sitting down. I hate to break it to you this way.
“They wanted to get me fired and I’m proud and happy to say that JC Penney stuck by their decision to make me their spokesperson. Which is great news for me because I also need some new crew socks. I’m really going to clean up with this discount.
DeGeneres displayed some of the positive comments towards JC Penney’s decision that can be found on Facebook, including “I am a Christian and part of a traditional family and I support Ellen and now JC Penney!!!!”
A surprise defender of Ellen and JC Penney’s is the conservative commentator Bill O’Reilly:
The Fox News commentator came to DeGeneres’ defense after conservative group One Million Moms, a division of the American Family Association, pressed JC Penney to replace the comedian and talk show host as their spokesperson because she is a lesbian.
He likened the group’s boycott of the Texas-based retail chain after they hired DeGeneres to a “witch hunt.” He went on to note, “What is the difference between the McCarthy era of the ’50s and the Million Moms saying, ‘Hey, JCPenney and all you other stores, don’t you hire any gay people. Don’t you dare.’ What is the difference?”
DeGeneres thanked O’Reilly later in the show, and offered to share her JC Penney’s discount with him.
The most powerful moment of the monologue came near the end, as DeGeneres said:
“I usually don’t talk about stuff like this on my show but I really want to thank everyone who is supporting me. If you don’t know me very well. If you’re just watching maybe for the first time or you’re just getting to know me. I want to be clear. Here are the values I stand for. I stand for honesty, equality, kindness, compassion, treating people the way you’d want to be treated and helping those in need. To me, those are traditional values. That’s what I stand for.