In observing Pride Month, Ellen DeGeneres shared a video montage of her favorite inspiring LGBTQ+ Pride moments on her show.
The three-minute video includes Ellen’s announcement of her wedding, Laverne Cox’s appearance on TIME Magazine and Sam Smith saying he wants to be a spokesman for the LGBTQ community.
Also in the highlight reel are transgender military veterans sharing their stories as Donald Trump proposed banning their service as well as touching coming-out stories.
Even though we have her in our living rooms every weekday, it’s still hard to believe that it’s been 15 years since Ellen DeGeneres has stepped out to do standup comedy.
But that drought is about to end as the comedian/talk-show host has announced a three city comedy tour for August before her Netflix comedy special airs.
Get ready to buy your tickets because comedian, talk-show host, and philanthropist extraordinaire Ellen DeGeneres is hitting the road for a three-city comedy tour in August before her Netflix special airs.
An Evening with Ellen DeGeneres will be presented by Live Nation and will hit Seattle, San Francisco, and San Diego.
The Emmy Award-winner’s last special, Here and Now, aired in 2003 on HBO.
Tickets for Ellen’s tour go on sale Tuesday, June 19th.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, DeGeneres will tape her Netflix special during the final shows in Seattle.
Here’s the full list of tour dates:
August 10 – San Diego, CA / Balboa Theatre August 11 – San Diego, CA / Balboa Theatre August 12 – San Diego, CA / Balboa Theatre August 15 – San Francisco, CA / Davies Symphony Hall August 16 – San Francisco, CA / Davies Symphony Hall August 17 – San Francisco, CA / Davies Symphony Hall August 22 – Seattle, WA / Benaroya Hall August 23 – Seattle, WA / Benaroya Hall
For the first-time ever, a same-sex spouse has been named “Navy Spouse of the Year.”
Named Armed Forces Insurance’s “Navy Spouse of the Year,” Brian Alvarado is husband to U.S. Navy servicemember Matthew Alvarado. Brian is the first same-sex spouse named as a branch winner in the program’s 11-year history.
Thanks to that honor, Ellen welcomed Matthew and Brian Alvarado on her show today.
The Dallas Voice has more details:
According to a press releases from Armed Forces Insurance and Military Spouse magazine, “As a male military spouse in a same-sex, interracial marriage, Alvarado’s recognition illustrates to the world that our military community is a strong, supportive, diverse and resilient community. Like other branch winners, he was nominated for his work in the community as a U.S. naval ombudsman at Fleet Anti-Submarine Warfare Training Center and volunteer work with Hiring Our Heroes Military Spouse Professional Network.
“In his role as an ombudsman, he reports to the command leadership and acts as a liaison between the command and the families of the sailors who serve on base. He is also very passionate about his work with Hiring Our Heroes, working to improve the nationwide 16 percent unemployment rate within the military spouse community both on a local and national level.”
The press release notes that Alvarado was named the 2016 Naval Base Coronado Base Spouse of the Year, and has since “lead the conversation on equality within the military community and looks to further promote the Department of Defense’s Equality Initiatives.”
The Alvarados are stationed at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego. Matthew is a 19-year veteran of the Navy.
Brian tells Ellen in the video below that his main focus is working with Hiring Our Heroes which works to help veterans and transitioning military members find work in the civilian workplace.
As part of honoring Brian and Matthew, Ellen donated $10,000 to Hiring Our Heroes.
Brian also shares that Ellen publicly came out during his senior year in high school, and so her visibility as an out and proud lesbian has been an inspiration to him his entire adult life.
• Gay-themed romantic comedy Love, Simon (in theaters today) was influenced by Broadway blockbuster Dear Evan Hansen.
• And speaking of Dear Evan Hansen, the show’s Tony Award-winning star Ben Platt has gone viral today sharing this “audition video” singing “Maria” from West Side Story.
Side note: Ben Platt has to make audition videos?
Having sung the song myself for years, I’m super-impressed by his high B-flat – effortless. What do you guys think?
Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon sat down with Ellen DeGeneres today to talk on a multitude of topics including his not winning the gold medal in his event.
Adam countered the question by saying just by appearing on ELLEN – which he’s wanted to do for at least 27 of his 28 years on the planet – he feels like he’s having a gold medal moment.
Ellen did inquire as to Adam’s current “celebrity crushes,” and Adam’s first response was Jake Gyllenhaal is a “solid choice.”
I think we can all agree there.
He added that he’s recently shifted from Harry Styles to singer Shawn Mendes who he’s been “sleeping on” (but not with).
Ellen’s advice was to possibly look in the “gay men” category and he might find more success there.
Adam’s take? “Love is a funny thing, isn’t it?”
In the second clip, Adam shares why he didn’t take a chance to talk with Vice President Mike Pence about his positions on so-called “conversion therapy.”
Mainly, Adam was busy getting ready for the Olympics. But he added that he feels that conversation is one that should be had by those who have been affected by Pence’s harmful policies.
He also announces his fund raising efforts in conjunction with GLAAD to help empower LGBTQ youth because, “I want people to be accepted exactly as they are.”
This year, I attended the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang as an openly LGBTQ American athlete. I’m proud to have represented my country authentically as exactly who I am. I want others to be able to show up to life exactly as they are. This is why I’ve started a fundraiser for GLAAD – because they are fighting for a world where every LGBTQ young person can be accepted and loved exactly as they are.
I want to give back to GLAAD by raising money to support their LGBTQ youth programing. GLAAD’s research uncovered that 20% of young people ages 18-34 identify as LGBTQ, and because of this they’ve created several programs that empower LGBTQ youth to tell their stories, produce dynamic web content and events, and receive high-level advocacy and media training. GLAAD’s youth programs foster courage, confidence and acceptance.
Will you join me to advance equality and accelerate acceptance for LGBTQ youth? Donate now and help make a difference. Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
Ellen DeGeneres was recently surprised to see her name was trending on Twitter and, unfortunately, it wasn’t because of her new game show “Ellen’s Game of Games.”
No, it was due to Eric Trump – officially the dumbest Trump – pondering if Ellen was a member of the political conspiracy known as the “Deep State.”
Ellen addressed Eric’s concerns in her monologue today after first trying to figure out who Eric is (“Which one is Eric? Did he kill the elephant or the cheetah?”).
“I just wanna say, Eric, I am honored that you think that I’m powerful enough to be part of a government conspiracy,” said Ellen. “I am sorry to disappoint you, I am not part of the Deep State. Even if somebody wanted me to be involved, I don’t have that kind of time. I’ve got my gay agenda meetings on Mondays. I’ve got on Wednesday Beyoncé and I host an illuminati brunch. And then Portia and I on the weekends are desperately trying to have a baby so I can’t. I don’t have time.”
DeGeneres did, however, point to the most logical cause as to why she would show up in Eric’s Twitter feed:
“It could be a conspiracy or it could be because your sister Ivanka follows me on Twitter, and your sister Tiffany follows me on Twitter, and maybe you should follow me,” she said. “I mean, because I post a lot of cute videos.”
In light of the Trump administration reversing course on an Obama era ban that kept hunters from bringing elephant trophies from the African countries of Zimbabwe and Zambia back into the Untied States, Ellen DeGeneres used her opening monologue yesterday to highlight and celebrate the incredible qualities of elephants.
“I love elephants. And if you take the time to learn about elephants, you would love elephants too.
“Elephants show compassion, sympathy, social intelligence, self-awareness. They’re excellent at learning abilities…all the things I have yet to see in this president.”
I consider myself a southern gentleman most of the time, and I rarely use vulgar language. But when I heard about the Trump administration’s decision, my reaction was to take to Facebook and post, “I’m sorry, but f*ck this shit.”
You’ll notice I did at least begin with an “I’m sorry.”
Elephants are, as Ellen correctly points out, majestic creatures. All Trump’s decision will do is encourage more American hunters to kill more elephants.
Watch Ellen’s eloquent pitch for pachyderms below.
Ellen DeGeneres has teamed up with Cheerios to reward people making positive change in the world with the cereal company’s “One Million Acts of Good” campaign. On Monday, the latest honoree had trouble keeping his cool.
Ellen surprised college student Trent Bauer, who created the role of LGBTQ Coordinator at his school after realizing they had no resources for fellow students.
Bauer’s bff, Stephanie Knauer, had written Ellen to share Trent’s awesome work as a college student:
“Dear Ellen, I want to tell you about the most selfless and special person I know and his name is Trent Bauer. He’s your biggest fan. He spent his entire college career fighting for gay rights and was even nominated for homecoming king because of all the good that he does. Trent has a heart of gold. He’s the definition of a true angel. Ellen, thank you for inspiring Trent to be the guy that he is.”
Trent had personally reached out to the president of Shippensburg University to create the LGBT student coordinator role because “I felt that there was an underserved lack of resources.”
Trent’s plans are to hopefully see the completion of the LGBT student center up and running before he graduates. And his selflessness doesn’t stop there. Trent is currently applying to the Peace Corps to take his efforts to an even wider plane.
Well, Ellen and Cheerios were not going to let all this do-gooding to go unrewarded.
“I want to do something for you because you’re a good guy,” explained Ellen. “We love what you do for the community. And you’re struggling to pay for college, so we want to be able to help you continue all the good you’re doing. So we’re going to give you $10,000.”
I’m sure you’ll love the 6’10” college senior’s reaction as much as I did.
Las Vegas security guard Jesus Campos, who first discovered the Las Vegas shooter who killed 58 and wounded hundreds in the deadliest shooting massacre in the United States, appeared on ELLEN today to share his story.
The appearance came just days after widely circulated reports that Campos — who was shot in the leg by one of the approximately 200 bullets Paddock fired through his hotel room door several minutes before he began his Oct. 1 assault on the 22,000 fans below — had disappeared.
“I’m doing better each day, slowly but sure, just healing physically and mentally,” said Campos. The soft-spoken security guard explained that he was called to check on Paddock’s room because of a security notification about the shooter’s door being left open for an extended period.
Coming up from the 31st floor to the 32nd, Campos said he was unable to open the door on the stairwell, which was blocked off, a situation that raised an alarm for him. After walking around a different way, Campos said he approached the room and saw a metal bracket holding the door to the blocked stairwell in place. After calling maintenance to check it out, Campos heard what he thought were “drilling” sounds shortly after, which turned out to be gunshots fired by Paddock.
As Campos walked back down the hallway away from Paddock’s room, he told DeGeneres that he heard the outer door slam, which he said caught Paddock’s attention. “As I was walking down I heard rapid fire and at first I took cover, I felt a burning sensation,” he said. “I went to go lift my pant leg up and I saw the blood. That’s when I called it in on my radio that shots had been fired.”
Campos was going to report that he was hit, but thinking fast, he used his cell phone to do so in order to keep the radio channel free. According to the revised timeline of the shooting, Campos — who was joined and comforted during the interview by Mandalay Bay building engineer Stephen Schuck — was shot in the leg nearly six minutes before Paddock began firing from his hotel room window.
