Out talk show host Ellen DeGeneres on
Wednesday condemned passage of a so-called religious freedom law in
Mississippi that she criticized as discriminatory.
The law, signed Tuesday by Republican
Governor Phil Bryant, allows religious organizations and businesses
related to the wedding industry to deny service to gay and
transgender people. The law protects individuals – including state
workers – who believe for religious reasons that marriage is
reserved for heterosexual couples. It is a response to the Supreme
Court's June 2015 finding that gay couples have a constitutional
right to marry.
“Now, I'm not a political person, I'm
really not,” DeGeneres said during her monologue. “But this is
not politics, this is human rights. And I mean, when I see something
wrong, I have to talk about it. It's the same thing that I do when I
see men wearing Spandex in line at Starbucks. It's wrong and I need
to discuss it.”
“So, this issue is very personal to
me, obviously. 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.”
“So, imagine this, okay. 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. But gay people do, so sell them
the damn flowers.”
“I was fired for being gay and I know
what it feels like. I lost everything,” she said, a reference to
losing her sitcom in the 1990s after coming out. “But look at me
now. I could buy that governor's mansion, flip it and make a $7
million profit.”