Barack Obama praises Ellen DeGeneres for empowering gays
Obama appeared on the latest addition of The Ellen DeGeneres show.
US President Barack Obama recently credited talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres with changing āhearts and mindsā in the battle for LGBT rights.
DeGeneres begins this weekās addition of her show by thanking Obama āfor what you have done for the gay community.ā
The president claims his promotion of LGBT rights āis one of the things Iām proudest of,ā before praising his host.
āChanging hearts and minds, I donāt think anyone has been more influential than you,ā he tells her.
āYou being willing to claim who you were, [it] suddenly empowers other people.
āThe law has followed, but it started with folks like you.ā
Rather the take the compliment seriously, however, DeGeneres responds with a joke.
āIām not really gay. I just thought it would work, and Iāve had to stick with it because people responded well.ā
As 2016 began, Obama said that equal marriage coming to all 50 states was one of his āfavourite momentsā last year.
The President was he opened up about his favourite things to happen in 2015 during a discussion with People Magazine.
He picked out the reception he held following the momentous Supreme Court ruling, meaning same-sex marriage is a constitutional right and cementing weddings in all 50 states.
āThe gathering outside the White House following the Supreme Court ruling upholding the right of same sex couples to marry,ā he said.
Meanwhile, DeGeneres was given just cause to celebrate last month, after her show was awarded a hefty renewal deal ā which will see the show remain on air until 2020.
It was announced last month that the daytime talk show has reached a three-year renewal deal with NBC ā which secures the showās future until the 2019-20 season.
The show first launched in 2003, but still attracts around 3.9 million viewers per episode.
DeGeneres often uses the show as a platform to talk about LGBT stories and issues as part of the line-up, and has interviewed a number of prominent guests ā from Caitlyn Jenner to Obama himself.
