Ellen DeGeneres slams Mississippi’s anti-gay law: ‘That is the definition of discrimination’
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MICHAEL ROZMAN / WARNER BROS.Ellen DeGeneres slammed Mississippi's controversial new anti-gay law in the monologue. |
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, April 7, 2016, 8:32 AM
For Ellen DeGeneres, “Mississippi” is spelled d-i-s-a-p-p-o-i-n-t-m-e-n-t.
The LGBT icon and talk-show host slammed the Hospitality State’scontroversial new anti-gay law Thursday in a serious monologue peppered with her trademark goofiness.
“I’m not a political person; I’m really not. But this is not politics, this is human rights. And I mean, when I see something wrong, I have to talk about it,” DeGeneres, who came out as gay in 1997, said in the clip taped Wednesday.
“I’m disappointed for several reasons. First of all, Mississippi is the only state I know how to spell. Second of all, that is the definition of discrimination,” she continued. “It is also something that the Supreme Court already ruled on when they made marriage a right for everyone. Everyone. And they’re Supreme. I mean, that's the best you can get. It’s like the Nacho Supreme from Taco Bell.”
The so-called “Religious Liberty Accommodations Act,” which Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed into law Tuesday, allows businesses to deny service to gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual couples based on employers’ religious beliefs.
In signing the measure — widely condemned by Democratic leaders, gay-rights groups and some businesses — Bryant said he aimed to “protect sincerely held religious beliefs and moral convictions.”
A visibly troubled DeGeneres managed to inject some levity with a silly metaphor.
“Imagine this. So two cupcakes walk into a flower shop and they want to buy a dozen roses. But the florist doesn't believe in selling flowers to cupcakes because they don't have any money,” she said. “But gay people do, so sell ‘em the damn flowers.”
The 58-year-old, who grew up in Louisiana and made frequent trips to Mississippi, attempted to buoy her Southern compatriots — including those in North Carolina, which recently enacted similar legislation — fighting anti-LGBT sentiment.
“If you're in Mississippi or North Carolina or anywhere and you’re saddened by the fact that people are judging you based on who you love, don't lose hope. I was fired for being gay and I know what it feels like. I lost everything,” DeGeneres said. “But look at me now. I could buy that governor's mansion, flip it and make a $7 million profit.”
She went on to push for “less hate and more love. Less tearing apart and more coming together. Less sitting and more dancing.”
DeGeneres isn’t the only person ripping the polarizing law. Gov. Cuomo on Tuesday banned non-essential trips by state workers to Mississippi, and a humanitarian organization’s bold new billboard smack in the state’s capital has a cartoon Jesus clarifying, “Guys, I said I hate figs and to love thy neighbor.
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