She was probably - and may still be - the most famous LGBTQ person in America.' 'It was a sensation, it was a landmark - and it became a political football,' said Mary Murphy, associate professor of journalism at University of Southern California. There is no doubt the cultural landscape has been upended since rising comedian DeGeneres came out in 1997 - simultaneously as her character on sitcom 'Ellen,' and in real life with an interview on the cover of Time magazine.ĭeGeneres was hailed as a gay icon, but her sitcom was cancelled a year later amid a backlash, and she spent five years in the wilderness before reinventing herself as a talk show host. 'We watched the world change - sometimes for the better, sometimes not.'