The LA Gay and Lesbian Centers Women's' Night Award to Ellen DeGeneres given by Kathy Najimy 1998 (Ellen's' show had been canceled and the last few shows had a disclaimer warning parents about it being inappropriate for children) Hello. Now before I speak I want to give a warning... a disclaimer if you will. This speech may contain ideas and images not suited for children. So if there are any kids here.....maybe you should take them out and set them in front of the t.v. and turn on a program that doesn't have a warning label...maybe...the power rangers kicking the shit out of people ..oh oh ...or a program with cities being bombed or women being raped and battered ... maybe a news item on a film director who married his daughter ... or have them watch the court trials of football stars who beat and then kill their wives. But please careful not to expose them to any program that might contain the horrors of two women holding hands. We'll wait while you gather them up. No one? OK. Mr. Danza and I thank you. When me and my friends were little ... we used to play Award Show. Dreaming of someday giving and receiving big awards to each other. We would play.. with me of course, sweeping every category. In fact should I never win an Oscar...My acceptance speech which I have revised and perfected through the years, really should be read at my funeral ... so it not go to waste. Anywho..part of the joy was the giving of the awards too. I think I actually cried when I presented my 8 year old friend Gregg Silverman with the big Weiner award. But now here I stand with one of my dreams a reality. I get to give an award away to my friend. Ellen. Now we could think of a million reasons to give this award to Ellen. Prettiest Hair. Nicest pants. Cute, Smart, funny. We all know Ellen is fun, warm and vulnerable, We know she is bright and talented, truthful, successful and beautiful...and we All know Ellen is ... good in bed. Ellen is gay and receiving the Gay and Lesbian Center Creative Integrity Award because in one of the bravest moves the century... Ellen came out publicly. That, combined with her decision to have her character Ellen Morgan come out ..on one of the best written, funniest, most moving episodes of television ... ever, has opened minds. Not a crack ... but flung open wide.... and opened hearts, united families, unleashed pride, erased shame and saved lives. Let me tell you why Ellen deserves an award. Now picture this... I am thin and blonde and sixteen years old. Whatever its not that hard to picture. I am Ellen I'm 16, and all I want is to love and make people laugh and maybe find a decent fitting pair bell bottoms. I start as an unknown...and work and work until I am a respected and successful stand up comic. Then at a time where I am finally ... after years and years of work.... a huge star....after hit shows and records, award winning specials and books, films and honors and have my own hit TV series at a time when the world has fallen as hard in love with me as they did with Lucy, and my career is most vulnerable.....I decide to risk it all and tell the world..Yep I'm Gay. Ellen is not an organically politically active person...she never wished for this, she never imagined this and she never planned this... I think being a role model/spokesperson was probably 1,000 on her list..... way below....playing with the dogs, writing a joke ... and maybe enjoying a pasta dish with a nice glass of merlot. But she was faced with two options ... living in secrecy, fear and shame...and not rocking the boat.. not risking her success, security and popularity...OR standing up with pride and speaking out ..with the chance of watching her life and career smash into the iceberg. ( near far wherever you are..I believe that the heart does go on). Not an easy decision. She made the right one ... the hard and sometimes scary one but the right one. And in doing so has accepted the challenge of role model....With Grace, dignity and force. I am so proud of you Fellie. Now what do we wish most for our friends..? Health, money, their own rides to the airport ... and what? Someone nice for them to date. Maybe that they actually find THE ONE. Part of Ellen's' strength has resulted from the fact...she found THE ONE. Anne came like a gift from god right at the time when Ellen needed an angel on her side the most. Risking the same career and social backlash that Ellen had risked ... Anne stood up and told the world the truth. Not just about her love for Ellen but the truth about the possibilities of choice in all of our lives. Ann and I share the philosophy that every human being has the great capacity to fall in love with both men and women...and how that plays itself out in your life might be a matter of biology, destiny or just the roll of the dice. In what might be my favorite quote of all time she tells Los Angeles Magazine.......... "It's not whats between the legs that we fall in love with but whats between the ears." And of course there is Ellen's'' mother Betty. When you are in the middle of the most exciting and brilliant and sometimes most painful time of your life all you can hope for is a mother like BETTY. She not only encouraged and supported Ellen with all her heart...But now she is the spokesperson for the entire Lesbian Nation!!!... A surrogate mom to thousands and an example for all parents of lesbian and gays, of a normal mom..who simply loves and accepts her kid. Now, there are those who would say...(I have always wanted to start off a sentence like that.) Now there are those who would say.."Hey its just a sitcom. There are bigger issues in the world..How can anything revealed on a sitcom change the world." I don't have any idea who really would have said that but anyway...If someone had said that I would say to them.. TVs power is immense. I mean just Imagine the impact there would have been 40 years ago if there'd been a storyline with Laura Petrie and Sally Rogers getting it on. Ellen has become such a part of our lives and is so loved that she has entered directly into the homes of small town America and with her coming out ... forever changed their lives. Of course, she would have been immediately arrested if she actually entered their homes..but you get me. The impact Ellen has made is evident everywhere but most clearly in the hundreds of letters she gets everyday. Here are just a couple of my favorites. Ellen, My name is Vanessa I am 18 years old..and a really big fan of yours.I am a lesbian and my family thinks that is really bad. My parents told me to leave the house when I told them. I don't have any family that I talk to right now. I am trying to go to school and have a job at the same time. I don't know why people think homosexuality is so bad.. I saw your interview with Diane Sawyer and I thought to myself...this is the same thing I am going through except I am not famous and having the media saying bad things about me. I respect you so much Ellen for what you did...your friend, Vanessa Dear Ellen, My name is Gary N. Chance. I am going to be ten in November I'm really glad you realized who you are. I don't know what you are gong through...I'm not gay. I really like your show. If you would like to know more about me...call the president. oh I am also pen pals with someone in China also. I want to be a movie critic... I give your show two thumbs up. your pal, Gary Chance Ellen, A short note to let you know the impact of your show on me and my family. I am an over 50 lesbian who has never actually said the words. I have a son 23 and a daughter 18. You have given me my life. I am out to all my family now, for me wonderful results. If not for you the person and your wonderful show... I would have died in the closet. My partner has older children and has done the same...Thanks to you...we can have our life. Peace, Alice Ellen, your mother makes my heart sing!! She is so brave and smart!! As a mother of a bisexual son.... she made me proud. May god continue to bless you with the light of patience and understanding. Ellen, Hi I am 17 years old and I am writing to you because I want to tell you how much you mean to me and to thank you for saving my life. It all started a year ago when I tried to kill myself the first time. See, I fell in love with this girl Jodie and I told her...and the next day there were rumors going around my high school. I was friends with the whole school ... at least 700 people but at the end of one day I ended up with about 5. I found it really hard to cope after I lost my friends and I went down hill from there. I had so much self hate that..I tried to kill myself. As you can see it didn't work. The reason I want to thank you is because you gave me the strength to carry on. You and all of your strengths helped me. Thank you . I owe you my life. love, Summer Besides all the positive results, letters, awards, ...her own table at Cherry.. Ellen has, of course, also opened herself up to be the target of every screaming homophobe on the planet. Businesses, towns, networks, reporters ... gay and straight, fellow celebrities,musicians...gay and straight, politicians, and religious leaders....She bravely tapped them all on the shoulders took a deep breath, stepped back and said, here I am naked...fire away. And I have some pictures of that which I'll be selling tonight after the event. You know, this is what has amazed me the most...that someone with no desire for controversy ... now.. took her own hand and ushered herself into where she knew she had to go ... not only in the name of her freedom but ours. And in her decision ... she gives my daughter, her god daughter.. a chance at having the choice to love whoever the fuck she wants. And for that I am grateful. Allright, wrapping up. What are we trying to do here? What is the gay movement asking for? Is it Battle for territory? Religion, government, money? A movement for boundaries...land? Rulers ... arms? No. This is a movement with one request...Love. Love that's it. I would like the right to love..to hold hands and to kiss who I want. That is what the whole hullabaloo is about... Love. What on earth can be so threatening to everyone about a movement based solely on love??? The gay and Lesbian Rights Movement is trying to create a place not of shame but of pride... a place where love is celebrated ... where marriage is a right. A place where we are secure in our jobs and safe in our neighborhoods and respected in our communities. A place where we can share the miracle of actually having finally found a partner ... with our families. A place that instead of taking lives....lifts them up....We, all of us, have so much more to do for this to ever happen...and this year .. Ellen did it for us. Ellen, I know you have so much going on in your life right now...sad endings, exciting beginnings, houses, networks, big decisions: Persian rugs or hardwood floors,... Fred Segal or Barney's... Barney's or Fred Segals?..I know it is mind boggling. But I want you to really hear what I am going to say.... Because of you..television will never be the same, it will be better. Because of you and your courage.. there will be a few gay men or lesbian women who might not get bashed tonight and ... because of you...there will be one or two gay teens a day that might not get kicked out of there house....live on the streets, or take their life because they are gay. All because of you.