Ellen's Emotional Response at Receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom

https://youtu.be/tOErQMqCXvM  

“Again and again Ellen DeGeneres has shown us that a single individual can make the world a more fun, more open, and more loving place so long as we just keep swimming.”
Such an easy thing to take for granted now but she really was the first. 

I was in musical theatre school so to say this was a big deal to my coming-of-age group of friends is a drama queen understatement.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t a fan of the TV show (“Blasphemy!” I know, I’ve been told.) but I still realized the courage it took to take her hugely popular TV show and be honest about something most of us had already put together. It was just confirming what we knew, but to put it into words really did change everything. It made us have to examine our elderly aunt and special friend in a different light and realize there is nothing wrong with that and no one’s business but theirs.

I’m so glad kids today are more likely to be honest and proud of who they are. And one of the people who helped to make that happen still teaches us to dance and find things in life that make us happy.

Thank you, Ellen. Much deserved.