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DeGeneres: No, no. I don't care what X or Y does. I didn't do it to make a political statement. I did it selfishly for myself and because I thought it was a great thing for the show, which desperately needed a point of view. If other people come out, that's fine. I mean, it would be great if for no other reason than just to show the diversity, so it's not just the extremes. Because unfortunately those are the people who get the most attention on the news. You know, when you see the parades and you see dykes on bikes or these men dressed as women. I don't want to judge them. I don't want to come off like I'm attacking them--the whole point of what I'm doing is acceptance of everybody's differences. It's just that I don't want them representing the entire gay community, and I'm sure they don't want me representing them. We're individuals. It's like seeing scary heterosexuals on talk shows--it's like saying Joey Buttafuoco represents the heterosexual population.
TIME: You were a stand-up comic before you started your sitcom. That must have been a difficult profession for someone closeted.
DeGeneres: You can imagine the fag jokes. When I started headlining, it was always guys on before me. I would always follow somebody doing either dyke jokes or fag jokes and doing the lisp thing and the audience is going crazy and laughing. I just thought, "Oh God. What if they pick up that I'm gay?" It was that fear and shame. I never felt like I belonged anywhere. I never felt like I belonged to the gay community, I never felt like I belonged to the straight community. I've really felt like this in-between. I watched the whole Gay Pride march in Washington in 1993, and I wept when I saw that. I mean I cried so hard, thinking, "I wish I could be there," because I never felt like I belonged anywhere.
TIME: Jerry Falwell called you Ellen DeGenerate.
DeGeneres: Really, he called me that? Ellen DeGenerate? I've been getting that since the fourth grade. I guess I'm happy I could give him work.
TIME: It must be odd having your sexuality a subject of national debate.
DeGeneres: Yeah. That's why I want to get beyond this. I mean, I understand the curiosity and I understand the not understanding of it. Because I didn't understand for a long time, and I'm still struggling to--I have the same problems that a lot of people do. But let's get beyond this, and let me get back to what I do. Maybe I'll find something even bigger to do later on. Maybe I'll become black.