Out and Proud in Hollywood

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Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi

Ellen DeGeneres famously outed herself to Oprah Winfrey in 1997 on her sitcom "Ellen", in which Winfrey played her therapist. In 2008, DeGeneres announced that she and longtime girlfriend Portia de Rossi were engaged and would be tying the knot later that year. After the passing of Proposition 8, the couple worried that their marriage would no longer be legal but a ruling from the Supreme Court validated their union. Recently, de Rossi legally changed her name to Portia Lee James DeGeneres.