Latest news with #gaymarriage
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Ellen DeGeneres confirms she left the US because of President Trump and declares she and wife Portia de Rossi are 'staying in the UK' for good
Ellen DeGeneres has confirmed she left the US because of President Trump in a candid new interview. The comedian and presenter, 67, now lives in the Cotswolds with her wife Portia de Rossi, 52, and told how they are 'staying here' for good now. This weekend she spoke with broadcaster Richard Bacon at the Everyman theatre in Cheltenham where she opened up about the huge life changes. She also said she and Portia - who first wed in 2008 - were considering tying the knot again in the UK after some moves in the US to reverse the right to gay marriage. Ellen said during the conversation: 'We got here the day before the election and woke up to lots of texts from our friends with crying emojis, and I was like, 'He got in'.' 'And we're like, 'We're staying here'.' Speaking of her love for the UK she added: 'It's absolutely beautiful. We're just not used to seeing this kind of beauty. The villages and the towns and the architecture - everything you see is charming and it's just a simpler way of life. 'It's clean. Everything here is just better - the way animals are treated, people are polite. I just love it here. 'We moved here in November, which was not the ideal time, but I saw snow for the first time in my life. We love it here. Portia flew her horses here, and I have chickens, and we had sheep for about two weeks.' Ellen also spoke about the increasing threats to same sex marriage in the US during the conversation. She said: 'The Baptist Church in America is trying to reverse gay marriage. 'They're trying to literally stop it from happening in the future and possibly reverse it. Portia and I are already looking into it, and if they do that, we're going to get married here. 'I wish we were at a place where it was not scary for people to be who they are. I wish that we lived in a society where everybody could accept other people and their differences. 'So until we're there, I think there's a hard place to say we have huge progress.' Ellen often shares a look at her idyllic country lifestyle in the Cotswolds to her social media. Speaking of her love for the UK she said: 'It's absolutely beautiful. We're just not used to seeing this kind of beauty' (her previous home in the Cotswolds is pictured) Recently she snapped a photo while standing behind Portia as they looked out at the scenic view of the countryside and a double rainbow following a rainfall. '3 things that make me happy: My Wife A Rainbow And my wife taking a photograph of a Rainbow,' she wrote. Back in 2020, Ellen was embroiled in controversy after being accused of creating a toxic work environment - and later issued an apology. After nearly two decades of being on the air, The Ellen Degeneres Show also came to an end just two years later in 2022. She previously told The Hollywood Reporter, 'I have to just trust that whatever happened during that time, which was obviously very, very difficult, happened for a reason. 'I think that I learned a lot, and there were some things that came up that I was shocked and surprised by. It was eye-opening, but I just trust that that had to happen.' She stepped in front of the camera once again for her 2024 Netflix special titled Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval. However upon its release, the project garnered mainly mixed to negative reviews and garnered a score of 33% on Rotten Tomatoes.
BBC News
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Ellen DeGeneres: I moved to the UK because of Donald Trump
US TV star Ellen DeGeneres has made her first public appearance since moving to the UK, saying she decided to settle in England the day after Donald Trump was re-elected US comedian and host told a crowd in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, that life "is just better" in the said she and wife Portia de Rossi were considering getting married again in England after some moves in the US to reverse the right to gay marriage, and that America can still be "scary for people to be who they are".She also addressed allegations of a toxic workplace that led to the end of her long-running chat show in 2022, admitting she could be "very blunt", but dismissed the stories as "clickbait". 'We're staying here' Ellen was one of the biggest names on US TV for 30 years, thanks to her daytime chat show, as well as her self-titled 1990s sitcom, for hosting the Oscars, Grammys and Emmys, and for voicing Dory in Finding her talk show was cancelled and a "final stand-up tour", she bought a house in the Cotswolds, a historic and picturesque area mainly spanning parts of Gloucestershire and Sunday at the Everyman theatre in nearby Cheltenham, she was in conversation with broadcaster Richard Bacon, who asked whether reports that she moved because of Donald Trump were correct. "Yes," she 67-year-old said she and De Rossi had initially planned to spend three or four months a year in the UK and bought what they thought would be "a part-time house"."We got here the day before the election and woke up to lots of texts from our friends with crying emojis, and I was like, 'He got in'," she said. "And we're like, 'We're staying here'." Ellen has been giving glimpses of her new rural life on social media, in videos showing her farm animals including sheep - although they have now been sold after they kept escaping."It's absolutely beautiful," she said. "We're just not used to seeing this kind of beauty. The villages and the towns and the architecture - everything you see is charming and it's just a simpler way of life."It's clean. Everything here is just better - the way animals are treated, people are polite. I just love it here."We moved here in November, which was not the ideal time, but I saw snow for the first time in my life. We love it here. Portia flew her horses here, and I have chickens, and we had sheep for about two weeks." Being gay in Hollywood 'is still a problem' On her last tour, she joked that she had been "kicked out of show business twice" - the first being when she came out as gay in effectively led to the end of her sitcom after advertisers pulled out and the network stopped promoting it, she told the Cheltenham crowd on asked whether her visibility had encouraged other people to come out. "I would say no," she replied. "I imagined a lot of people coming out like meerkats poking out of a hole and going back in again. 'How's she doing? OK, no, no.'"But it is "a really hard decision" that doesn't suit everyone, she continued, and that things are better today "in some ways"."If it was [better], all these other people that are actors and actresses that I know they're gay, they'd be out, but they're not, because it's still a problem. People are still scared." Ellen also referenced a recent move by the Southern Baptist Convention to endorse the reversal of a Supreme Court case allowing same-sex marriage. At least nine state legislatures have introduced bills to do the same."The Baptist Church in America is trying to reverse gay marriage," she said. "They're trying to literally stop it from happening in the future and possibly reverse it. And Portia and I are already looking into it. And if they do that, we're going to get married here."Later, in response to an audience question, she added: "I wish we were at a place where it was not scary for people to be who they are. I wish that we lived in a society where everybody could accept other people and their differences."So until we're there, I think there's a hard place to say we have huge progress."However, the younger generation are "more comfortable with it" and are "just kind of fluid", she added. "So I think the younger generation is going to show us the way." 'Does being blunt mean I'm mean?' After some former workers on her talk show made allegations of a toxic workplace culture, the star - who ended every episode by telling viewers to "be kind to one another" - was dubbed as "mean" in the the scandal three producers were sacked amid allegations of misconduct and sexual harassment, and the final season of the show opened with DeGeneres giving an on-air addressed that in her 2024 tour and the accompanying Netflix stand-up special."No matter what, any article that came up, it was like, 'She's mean', and it's like, how do I deal with this without sounding like a victim or 'poor me' or complaining? But I wanted to address it."It's as simple as, I'm a direct person, and I'm very blunt, and I guess sometimes that means that... I'm mean?" She also said it was "kind of crazy" that saying someone is mean "can be the worst thing that you say about a woman"."How dare us have any kind of mood, or you can't be anything other than nice and sweet and kind and submissive and complacent?"She added: "I don't think I can say anything that's ever going to get rid of that [reputation] or dispel it, which is hurtful to me. I hate it. I hate that people think that I'm that because I know who I am and I know that I'm an empathetic, compassionate person."It was "certainly an unpleasant way to end" her talk show, she said. Would 'love' a British talk show Ellen said she misses "a lot" about her show, but doesn't think a similar format would work any more. "I mean, I wish it did, because I would do the same thing here. I would love to do that again, but I just feel like people are watching on their phones, or people aren't really paying attention as much to televisions, because we're so inundated with with information and entertainment."She said she didn't know what she would do in the future, but would pick her next move "very carefully"."I just don't know what that is yet," she said. "I want to have fun, I want to do something. I do like my chickens but I'm a little bit bored."
Fox News
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Why Andrew Sullivan says the gay rights movement has gone off the rails
There's a phrase I keep hearing these days: TAKE THE WIN. It can be applied to anyone – Donald Trump, Chuck Schumer, AOC – who notches a victory and then insists on demanding more, however unrealistic that might be. What brings this to mind is an extraordinary essay by Andrew Sullivan in the New York Times. It was Sullivan – a gay, British conservative Catholic running the New Republic – who first made the case for gay marriage back in 1989. "As it has become more acceptable for gay people to acknowledge their loves publicly, more and more have committed themselves to one another for life in full view of their families and their friends. A law institutionalizing gay marriage would merely reinforce a healthy social trend." The cover story was wildly unpopular and viewed as extremist. Despite his optimism, many gays remained closeted, including in the media, for fear of repercussions. Gays in the military, before Bill Clinton, were subject to discharge or court-martial. So Sullivan's dream was seen as a faraway fantasy. Christian conservative Gary Bauer, on "Crossfire," said "this is the loopiest idea ever to come down the pike. Why are we even discussing it?" In the spring of 1996, Andrew came to me and asked me to break the story that he had AIDS, and, in part, that's why he was resigning as the New Republic's editor. He said he'd known he had the disease for three years but was in good health. "It's an awful burden being lifted," he told me. "It's hard enough to battle the disease, but when there's a secret about it, you can't help but tap into feelings of shame and guilt that just destroy you." It was not until 2015, after 37 states had already acted (with some overturned), that the Supreme Court made same-sex marriage the law of the land. And when straight couples realized their own marriages were unaffected, it gradually faded as a hot political issue. Polls now show that seven in 10 Americans support gay marriage. Gays now serve openly in the Cabinet and in state houses. "As civil rights victories go," Sullivan, still in generally good health, writes in the Times, "it doesn't get more decisive or comprehensive than this." The issue is getting plenty of media play because it's the 10th anniversary of the SCOTUS ruling. But now comes the overreach. Rather than declare victory and close up shop, the movement lurched in a dangerous new direction. Sullivan says he always supported civil rights for transgender people. And I feel the same way. But gay rights groups, with money pouring in, tried to replace the distinction between men and women with "gender identity" – and that meant an embrace of gender-altering surgery for minors. That is an issue opposed by roughly 80 percent of the country. Along with an obsession with pronouns, the movement also backed letting trans women compete in women's sports, another issue that most people find unfair, viewing them as men. The new mantra, according to Sullivan: "TRANS WOMEN ARE WOMEN. TRANS MEN ARE MEN." President Trump has ordered trans military members booted from the service. Sullivan, no fan of the president, says some activists reflexively oppose whatever Trump supports. "Dissenters from gender ideology are routinely unfriended, shunned and shamed. Almost all of the gay men, trans people and lesbians who have confided in me [say] that they don't agree with this… "Leave children out of it. We knew very well that any overreach there could provoke the most ancient libel against us: that we groom and abuse kids." This is one man's opinion; Sullivan allows he may be "just another old fart." As if to underscore his point about intolerance, a poster on Reddit called the piece an "incoherent mishmash" and says Sullivan is "blaming trans and LGBTQ+ activists for conservative attacks on the trans community." This from "an aging gay man whose brain is soaked in prejudice and fear." Plenty of people may disagree with Andrew Sullivan's analysis; Republican support for same-sex unions falls below 50 percent. But as the first man to crusade for gay marriage 36 years ago, and openly discuss his battle with HIV, I'd say he's earned the right to be heard.
Fox News
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Nation's largest Protestant denomination calls for overturning Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage
The Southern Baptist Convention adopted a lengthy resolution this week that, in part, calls for the overturning of the Supreme Court's 2015 gay marriage ruling. The text of the resolution, titled, "On Restoring Moral Clarity through God's Design for Gender, Marriage, and the Family," calls "for the overturning of laws and court rulings, including Obergefell v. Hodges, that defy God's design for marriage and family." The multifaceted and wide-ranging resolution calls "for laws that affirm marriage between one man and one woman, recognize the biological reality of male and female, protect children's innocence against sexual predation, affirm and strengthen parental rights in education and healthcare, incentivize family formation in life-affirming ways, and ensure safety and fairness in athletic competition." It also urges defunding Planned Parenthood and directing public funds toward "life-affirming healthcare providers." The 10-year anniversary of the high court's controversial landmark 5-4 gay marriage decision falls later this month. "The Constitution, however, does not permit the State to bar same-sex couples from marriage on the same terms as accorded to couples of the opposite sex," the opinion asserted. Resolutions committee chair Dr. Andrew Walker, who described the SBC as the biggest Protestant denomination in the U.S., emphasized during a press conference that he recognizes the "headwinds." "There is very little desire, even on the conservative side, I think, to go to bat for marriage in this… culture," he said, explaining that the resolution aims to convey that "Southern Baptists are not going anywhere on this issue." He noted that he hopes "this is used as a mechanism for encouragement for other conservative-minded evangelicals."
CNN
10-06-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Southern Baptists overwhelmingly call for a ban on gay marriage
Southern Baptists overwhelmingly endorsed a ban on gay marriage — including a call for a reversal of the US Supreme Court's 10-year-old precedent legalizing it nationwide. They also called for legislators to curtail sports betting and to support policies that promote childbearing. The votes came at the gathering of more than 10,000 church representatives at the annual meeting of the nation's largest Protestant denomination. A proposed resolution says legislators have a duty to 'pass laws that reflect the truth of creation and natural law — about marriage, sex, human life, and family' and to oppose laws contradicting 'what God has made plain through nature and Scripture.' A wide-ranging resolution calls for the 'overturning of laws and court rulings, including Obergefell v. Hodges, that defy God's design for marriage and family.' A reversal of Obergefell wouldn't in and of itself be a ban. The resolution calls 'for laws that affirm marriage between one man and one women.' There was no debate on the marriage resolution. The two-day annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention began Tuesday morning with praise sessions and optimistic reports about growing numbers of baptisms. But casting a pall over the gathering is the recent death of one of the most high-profile whistleblowers in the Southern Baptists' scandal of sexual abuse. Jennifer Lyell, a onetime denominational publishing executive who went public in 2019 with allegations that she had been sexually abused by a seminary professor while a student, died Saturday at 47. She 'suffered catastrophic strokes,' a friend and fellow advocate, Rachael Denhollander, posted Sunday on X. Friends reported that the backlash Lyell received after going public with her report took a devastating toll on her. Several abuse survivors and advocates for reform, who previously had a prominent presence in recent SBC meetings, are skipping this year's gathering, citing lack of progress by the convention. Two people sought to fill that void, standing vigil outside of the meeting at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas as attendees walked by. The pair held up signs with photos of Lyell and of Gareld Duane Rollins, who died earlier this spring and who was among those who accused longtime SBC power broker Paul Pressler of sexual abuse. 'It's not a healthy thing for them (survivors) to be here,' said Johnna Harris, host of a podcast on abuse in evangelical ministries. 'I felt like it was important for someone to show up. I want people to know there are people who care.' The SBC Executive Committee, in a 2022 apology, acknowledged 'its failure to adequately listen, protect, and care for Jennifer Lyell when she came forward to share her story.' It also acknowledged the denomination's official news agency had not accurately reported the situation as 'sexual abuse by a trusted minister in a position of power at a Southern Baptist seminary.' SBC officials issued statements this week lamenting Lyell's death, but her fellow advocates have denounced what they say is a failure to implement reforms. The SBC's 2022 meeting voted overwhelmingly to create a way to track pastors and other church workers credibly accused of sex abuse. That came shortly after the release of a blockbuster report by an outside consultant, which said Southern Baptist leaders mishandled abuse cases and stonewalled victims for years. But the denomination's Executive Committee president, Jeff Iorg, said earlier this year that creating a database is not a focus and that the committee instead plans to refer churches to existing databases of sex offenders and focus on education about abuse prevention. The committee administers the denomination's day-to-day business. Advocates for reform don't see those approaches as adequate. It is the latest instance of 'officials trailing out hollow words, impotent task forces and phony dog-and-pony shows of reform,' abuse survivor and longtime advocate Christa Brown wrote on Baptist News Global, which is not SBC-affiliated. In a related action, the Executive Committee will also be seeking $3 million in convention funding for ongoing legal expenses related to abuse cases.
