Obama’s Emotional Speech For Ellen DeGeneres

Get the tissues ready…

ellen obama

by Elizabeth Bennett |
Published on

Last night President Obama presented 21 recipients with the country's highest civilian honour, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Celebrities including Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro and Michael Jordan all received an award, but it’s Ellen De Generes who everyone can’t stop talking about.

In President Obama’s moving speech he spoke about Ellen’s difficult decision to come out on her TV show in 1997.

In the ceremony at the Whitehouse, Obama spoke about how her bravery helped "push our country in the direction of justice".

ellen obama

“It's easy to forget now, when we've come so far... just how much courage was required for Ellen to come out on the most public of stages almost 20 years ago,” Obama said.

"Just how important it was, not just to the LGBT community but for all of us to see somebody so full of kindness and light, somebody we liked so much - somebody who could be our neighbour or our colleague or our sister - challenge us on our assumptions; remind us that we have more in common than we realise, push our country in the direction of justice. What an incredible burden that was to bear. To risk your career like that - people don't do that very often."

As Obama made the speech, he admitted to feeling “kind of choked up”, and Ellen herself even looked a little teary as she collected her award.

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