TV star Ellen DeGeneres came out exclusively to TIME 16 years ago: “I hate that term ‘in the closet.’ Until recently I hated the word lesbian too. I’ve said it enough now that it doesn’t bother me. But lesbian sounded like somebody with some kind of disease.” She is now married to Arrested Development star Portia de Rossi.
TIME Covers the Gay Rights Movement
Over the last five decades, these six cover stories chronicled both the milestones and the setbacks for homosexual men and women.
Ellen: “Yep, I’m Gay”
April 14, 1997