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December 7, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Ellen DeGeneres’ decision to “come out” as a lesbian in 1997 was celebrated at the Golden Globes Sunday evening, with Saturday Night Live star Kate McKinnon citing her as a major influence in her own decision to “come out.”

McKinnon thanked Ellen for giving her a “shot at a good life,” after explaining that seeing Ellen on TV had been the only thing that made being “gay” herself “less scary.” 

As she prepared to present DeGeneres with the Carol Burnett Award for Achievement in Television, McKinnon told the audience: “In 1997, when Ellen’s sitcom was at the height of its popularity, I was in my mother’s basement lifting weights in front of the mirror thinking, ‘Am I gay?’ And I was. And I still am. But that’s a very scary thing to suddenly know about yourself. It’s sort of like doing 23andMe and discovering you have alien DNA. And the only thing that made it less scary was seeing Ellen on TV.” 

McKinnon, who was born on January 6, 1984, was just 13 years old when Ellen came out in 1997.

McKinnon added that it was “only because of brave people like Ellen” that attitudes towards homosexuality had changed and that without her she would have “gone on thinking I was an alien.”

McKinnon said that “if I hadn’t seen her [Ellen] on TV, I would’ve thought, ‘I could never be on TV. They don’t let LGBTQ people on TV.’”

DeGeneres has been “married” to fellow TV star Portia de Rossi since 2008. In 2016 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by former U.S. President Barack Obama for her influence on “gay” rights. He choked up as he presented her with the medal honoring her homosexual activism. 

DeGeneres thanked McKinnon for her introduction while collecting her award. “Thank you so much,” she said. “I love you, I love it.”

Also at the Golden Globes, actress Michelle Williams used her speech accepting the award of best actress in a limited series or television movie to suggest that her success is because she had the right to kill her unborn child via abortion. 

“I wouldn't have been able to do this without employing a woman's right to choose,” Williams said

She also urged women to vote pro-abortion: “So women, 18 to 118, when it is time to vote, please do so in your own self-interest; it's what men have been doing for years.”

The dinner served at the Golden Globes was vegan to “raise environmental awareness about food consumption and waste.”