Ellen DeGeneres: Presidential Medal of Freedom

Watch Obama’s Lovely Tribute to Ellen DeGeneres, Androgynous Gay Ambassador

Today, Ellen DeGeneres represents a kind of hyper-palatable, vanilla gayness that’s more mainstream than subversive. When Barack Obama awarded her one of his last Presidential Medals of Freedom on Tuesday, he reminded viewers that two decades ago, when DeGeneres came out, even rumors of being gay could torpedo an actor’s livelihood ...

When I think of Ellen, I always remember this bit where she begins to sing that song from West Side Story :) ...