Watch Oprah Powerfully Stand up for Gay Rights in This 1997 Clip – Yahoo Life
To celebrate allies during Pride Month, we’d like to share a throwback of a 1997 The Oprah Winfrey Show clip of Oprah supporting gay rights. In the video, Oprah defends her decision to interview Ellen DeGeneres, who at the time had made the historic decision to publicly come out as gay.
According to OWN’s YouTube channel, the clip is taken from an episode where audience members challenged Oprah for interviewing Ellen DeGeneres, who at the time had recently publicly come out as gay. Then, it was a controversial move, but years later, DeGeneres’s bravery has gone down as a much-celebrated historical moment in pop culture.
In the two-minute video of the segment, a female audience member passionately questions Oprah’s decision to give DeGeneres a platform.
[embedded content]
“I have seen it in the Bible—it clearly states that homosexuality is wrong, and I feel that you are a powerful woman and you have done so much,” the guest said. “And if you are going to represent yourself as a Christian, and you’re gonna go on the show and say that you also support that, then it’s double standarding [sic].”
Of course, the O of O responded with her signature wisdom.
“Well I have a different view of Christian than you do,” she said. “The God I serve doesn’t care whether you’re tall or short, or whether you were born Black or Asian or gay, so that’s just a difference of belief. And I don’t expect to change your belief today… I take full responsibility for me going to hell or heaven…See, I believe God created Ellen, I believe God did that. And if Ellen says she’s gay, I believe God created her gay. I believe God did that.”
Still—through tears—the audience member continued to defend her point of view. “You can’t stand up there on that show and in front of this whole American society and say that you support that,” the woman said.
Once again Oprah had a quick, fair comeback. “I support her right to be who she thinks she is.”
And that was that. To catch the full segment, watch the must-see moment above.
For more ways to live your best life plus all things Oprah, sign up for our newsletter!
You Might Also Like