Inspired by the women they watched on television was a theme at the 2020 Golden Globe Awards.
Saturday Night Live comedian Kate McKinnon gave an emotional introduction of Ellen DeGeneres who was to accept this year’s Carol Burnett Award for Achievement in Television.
Photo courtesy of LesbianNews.com
“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,” Ms. McKinnon began her presentation skillfully. “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.
“She risked her entire life and her entire career in order to tell the truth, and she suffered greatly for it,” McKinnon added. “If I hadn’t seen her on TV, I would’ve thought, ‘I could never be on TV. They don’t let LGBTQ people on TV.’ And more than that, I would’ve gone on thinking I was an alien and that I maybe didn’t even have a right to be here. So, thank you, Ellen, for giving me a shot at a good life.”
Ellen
Ellen DeGeneres accepted the award humorously in a speech that nevertheless turned emotional when she expressed her gratitude for television, as well.
“Television inspired everything that I am today,” she said. “All I want … people to do is laugh, and make people feel good. And there is no greater feeling than when people say I have helped them through a difficult time.”