ET has the latest...

ELLEN DeGENERES turned serious during the taping of her show today as she spoke about the murder of LAWRENCE KING, a California boy who was shot on February 12 by a male classmate after King asked him to be his Valentine.

"Larry is not a second-class citizen," Ellen said during the show set to air today. "I am not a second-class citizen. It is okay if you are gay."

Ellen went on to say that she feels a lot of hate stems from jokes, movies, speeches and other parts of the media, which she says needs to stop. "All of it is unacceptable," she said. "Laughing at someone because he's gay is just the start of it."

She says it's time for a change. "To be gay you can get killed for it ... we need to change the message."