Ellen DeGeneres Receives Medal of Freedom from President Obama
“Ellen counters what too often divides us with the countless things that bind us together,” Obama said in awarding her the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Ellen DeGeneres on Tuesday was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor, alongside 20 other artists, athletes, scientists and philanthropists.
President Barack Obama ― who had to stop mid-address because he was “getting kind of choked up” ― bestowed the award on the television host for her unwavering ability to make “you laugh about something, rather than at someone.” He praised DeGeneres’ historic bravery for publicly coming out of the closet nearly two decades ago, putting her career in jeopardy.
“It’s easy to forget now, when we’ve come so far, where now marriage is equal under the law, just how much courage was required for Ellen to come out on the most public of stages almost 20 years ago. Just how important it was not just for the LGBT community, but for all us to see somebody so full of kindness and light. Somebody we liked so much, somebody who could be our neighbor or our colleague or our sister challenge our own assumptions. Remind us that we have more in common than we realize, push our country in the direction of justice. What an incredible burden it was to bear, to risk your career like that. People don’t do that very often.”
*Oh my goodness, the Obamas are the classiest, most down to earth people who have ever resided in the White House. They will be missed so much.
'Michelle 2020'