In April 1997, Time Magazine hit newsstands across the United States with one of its most bombastic covers yet. Comedian and actress Ellen DeGeneres, then the protagonist of a television series called “Ellen,” appeared alone, cowering with a cry, “Yes, I’m gay.”
It was a scandal. Ellen was a relatively famous actress, a wellknown comedian, but it wasn’t common for a celebrity of that stature to come out of the closet.
The popular series “Ellen”, which was based on the situation comedies that were so famous then and now, created a dramaturgy around Ellen’s life that included real and fictitious situations.
In it, Ellen — still a far cry from the famous presenter she would later become — was straight and spent her days searching for a romance to call her own.
There were rumors that the comedian was a lesbian, but Ellen didn’t talk about it. Until Anne Heche entered this story.
Ellen and Heche fell in love after a date at a party. Heche, fearless and quite young, threw himself headlong into the relationship with nothing to lose or hide. Ellen, older than her, accepted playing in the waves of passion and decided to get out of the closet: in Time and on her show.
The character’s cover and comingout, which took place in an episode seen by millions of people and heavily promoted across the country, took place at the same time.
It was a riot. The conservative part of the country rebelled, the progressive part cheered. The noise was loud and lasted for months and months.
I was living in Los Angeles at the time and was immediately affected.
I was still a closet lesbian, and Ellen’s courage encouraged me. Shortly thereafter, I debuted my column in Tpm magazine, written from the point of view of an openly lesbian woman. The winds that Ellen blew could be felt far away.
It all seemed like one big dyke dream, the hint that we were finally in vogue, until ABC, the network that aired Ellen, decided to abruptly end the show.
Ellen hit rock bottom. Depressed, excluded, she counted on Heche for years to come.
It took her a while to get back on her feet and reinvent herself as a presenter. Heche was the woman who stood by her through the worst years of her life.
But her story wasn’t supposed to have a happy ending.
Heche would be accused of being a traitor, would start dating men again (hello, bisexuality, that identity is so mistreated and ignored) and rumors surfaced that the two had split on the worst of terms.
However, the way I saw the story, without Heche there would be no Ellen.
By the way, one of Anne Heche’s best films is called “Mere Coincidence”, a snappy and topical political comedy, although it was only released in 1997: Robert de Niro, Dustin Hoffmann, Kristen Dunst and a great cast.
Go in peace, Anne Heche. And thanks for the fight.