Gay rights have come a long way in just a short amount of time. Ellen DeGeneres’ career is a good example of that. While we all know she’s a lesbian now, and are jealous that she’s married to the smoke show that is Portia Rossi, there was a time where an openly gay host wouldn’t have been ok. And that time wasn’t as long ago as you’d like to think. Ellen made headlines by coming out as gay less than 25 years ago, in 1997. Her character was the first openly gay main character on air – ever. Thanks to her and other trailblazers, there are many more today.

Her Beginning

Ellen has always been funny. She started doing stand-up in the late 1980s and climbed the rungs of the ladder, fast. She started out at the comedy clubs, like everyone else, but soon got a spot on the Tonight Show. Johnny Carson, who was the host at that time, liked her so much he asked her to come sit closer – which means you’ve made it, in the comedy world. After that success, she went on a nation-wide tour and earned a spot on sitcom Duet (which would become Ellen). She put out multiple comedy albums during this time and even wrote a book. But she didn’t land her talk show until after the coming-out episode. The Ellen Show started in 2003.

Move Over, Oprah

While no one can or ever will replace Oprah, the Ellen DeGeneres show became a fierce competition. Unlike Oprah, Ellen focused on being funny while still having a humanistic flair. To this day, the show has been going on for almost 20 years, and there are no plans to stop it anytime soon.