A court ruling that California's Proposition 8 is unconstitutional prompted Ellen DeGeneres to speak out about conservative group One Million Moms, which wanted her fired as JC Penney's new spokeswoman because she is gay.
"Normally, I try not to pay attention to my haters, but this time I'd like to talk about it, because my haters are my motivators," DeGeneres told her "Ellen" show audience Tuesday. The episode airs today.
"I'm sure the people who oppose (Prop 8) will try to appeal it, but it's a step in the right direction. So I'm happy … But there's a group called One Million Moms that isn't happy about it."
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DeGeneres went on to recap the One Million Moms situation for the audience, including JC Penney's decision to continue with her as their spokesperson, and the group's assertion that JC Penney was "jumping on the pro-gay bandwagon" by hiring her.
"First of all, being gay or pro-gay is not a bandwagon," she said. "You don't get a free ride anywhere. There's no music. And occasionally we'll sing 'We Are Family,' but that's about it.
"Secondly, they said a majority of the JC Penney shoppers will be offended and not shop there anymore. I would like to read just a few comments from the Million Moms Facebook page … And not that there's anyone counting, but for a group that calls themselves the Million Moms, they only have 40,000 members on their page. So they're rounding to the nearest million…"
She continued: "Here are the values I stand for. I stand for honesty, equality, kindness, compassion, treating people the way you'd want to be treated and helping those in need. To me, those are traditional values. That's what I stand for."
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