LGBTQ Community: Confessions of a Lesbian Celebrity

In 1997, the now 60 year old American female TV host, Ellen DeGeneres publicly confess during a show that she was Lesbian (Gay). The reactions following this confession was thunderous and created a lot of waves amongst her fans and viewers in the US and over the world. Recently in March 2018, she made some revelations regarding her pronouncements back in ’97.

During an ABC sitcom in 1997, DeGeneres’ confession astounded TV viewers because, many people in American and all over the world were yet to come to terms with the notion of an LGBTQ community. In a recent interview with Dax Shepard on his “Armchair Expert Podcast”, the comedian said the backlash generated from her confession left her in depression. Sarcastic comments from already well known gays made her lonesome. She revealed that: "Even Elton John said, ‘Shut up already. We know you’re gay. Be funny" and went on to add that: "I had never met him and I thought, ‘What kind of support is that from a gay person?’…it hurt my feelings."

Ellen and Elton ever since his unwarranted comments have met severally and he's been a guest on her widely viewed chat show on NBC. Ellen DeGeneres reminisced how after he confessions, her sitcom was canceled by ABC because sponsors and advertisers would have none of the lesbian lady and she feared it would be impossible to bounce back in her career and gain the love and support of her fans all over the world and especially in America since most TV stations and entrepreneurs  had deserted her and refused to work with her. 

This amazing animator recounted her challenges being gay but was happy to have overcome the huddles and moralistic prying eyes of the American society. She poured out her gratitude to ABC TV Network and revealed that: "ABC finally let me come out, and it was a huge success…It was huge. It was celebrated." She regretted that this new success was short-lived  because her show was later canceled again. DeGeneres added that: "People were making fun of me. I was really depressed. And because of that, the show was canceled, I was looked at as a failure in this business. No one would touch me. I had no agent, I had no possibility of a job, I had nothing." To make matters worse, she wasn’t very welcomed by some members of the LGBTQ community and was constantly being criticized by them. According to her, "The gay community, [is] a really difficult line to walk. This was because some people thought she wasn’t gay enough or wasn’t doing enough for the LGBTQ community. Funnily, she had thought to herself: “I was like, ‘I didn’t say I was your leader, and I didn’t say I have done more. I just want to be a comedian, and I just happen to be gay…"  

 Because it never rains but it pours, Ellen recounted to Shepard another painful period in her life. The tragic death of her girlfriend when she was just 20 spurred her on and eventually led her into standup comedy. She declared: "My girlfriend was killed in a car accident when I was like 20 years old. And I wasn’t doing comedy, I think I was probably waitressing someplace at the time. I was living with her when she was killed," she had said. Ellen recounted how she couldn't afford to continue living at the home she shared with her girlfriend and moved into a small basement apartment by herself: "I was sleeping on a mattress on a floor and it was infested with fleas. And I used to write all the time, I wrote poetry and songs and stuff, and I thought, ‘Why is this beautiful 21-year-old girl just gone and fleas are here?"  she had thought to herself how: "…it would be amazing if we could just pick up the phone and call up God and ask questions and get an answer," confessed to Dax Shepard. This inspired her to start her show entitled “Phone Call To God Comedy” which she started performing in 1986 on “The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson”. From then on, things gradually began to change for her with the support of Carson and encouragement of her loyal fans.

Of course, one wouldn’t deny the fact that Ellen DeGeneres’ story is sad and so touching and seemingly as humans some will sympathize while others will empathize. But again, one must not forget that this is in the West and it is the United States of America. On that note, we must ask ourselves how welcomed is the LGBTQ community and or it proponents viewed and appreciated in Africa and especially Cameroon. To some, being gay is outright madness, to others, it is ritualistic and a cult. Well, after all said and done, one can only but watch and listen because this is the 21^st century and it is the digital age.

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