TELEVISION: HE CALLED ME ELLEN DEGENERATE?

In an exclusive interview with TIME, Ellen DeGeneres talks about coming out, staying in and not wanting to be "the lesbian actress"

TIME: So, for the record, are you yourself gay?

Ellen DeGeneres: Yes. You're the first person that I've--I mean I knew that I was going to--that was one of the things when I decided to have my character on the show come out, I knew I was going to have to come out too. But I didn't want to talk about it until the show was done. And you know, I watched my friend Melissa [Etheridge] come out, and...