Thank you Ellen

Friday, February 29, 2008 Ellen DeGeneres on her show, recognized Lawrence "Larry" King and addressed the hatred that exists in our society.

Ellen said, "...when the message out there is so horrible that to be gay you can be killed for it, we need to change the message. Larry was not a second class citizen. I am not a second class citizen. It is OK if you're gay." "I would like you to start paying attention to how often being gay is the punchline in a monlogue or how often gay jokes are in a movie and that kind of message, laughing at someone because they're gay, is just a beginning. It starts with laughing at someone, then it's verbal abuse, then it's physical abuse and then it's this kid Brandon, killing a kid like Larry. " "This is an election year and there's a lot of talk about change. I think there's one thing we can change and that's hate. Check on who you're voting for and does that person really, truly believe that we are all equal under the law... and if you're not sure, change your vote. We deserve better."
The clip may be found at Ellen Tribute to Lawrence King .