Ellen senses a kindred spirit in herself when she meets an openly gay woman, named Susan, through Richard, an old boyfriend of hers, who enlightens Ellen to her own sexual identity. Confused by this startling self-discovery, Ellen seeks the guidance of yet another therapist and braces herself for yet another moment of truth of her life.
After a discussion with her therapist, Ellen decides to tell the truth about her true repressed sexual orientation to her friends by inviting them over to her apartment to break the news so she can be at peace. Meanwhile, Ellen’s hopes for a relationship with Susan are dashed when she tells Ellen that she’s not interested, but gives Ellen further confidence to embrace her newfound life.
Fifteen years ago today, Ellen DeGeneres’s character Ellen Morgan came out of the closet while 42 million Americans watched. During the fourth season of Ellen in 1997, DeGeneres came out publicly as a lesbian in an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Shortly afterwards on the April 30, 1997, episode of Ellen title “The Puppy Episode,” her character Ellen Morgan also came out to a therapist played by Winfrey, and the series went on to explore various LGBT issues including the coming out process.
Thank you Ellen for an inspirational fifteen years.
Joe
The Closet Professor 
April 30th, 2012 at 10:41 am
I think she's done so much to help our "cause". It's so nice that she's just normal – not outlandish, not flamboyant, just a normal person who happens to be very talented. Of course, there are people I know who watch her show and swear she's not a lesbian, that she just says that to get attention. There are, of course, hardcore old fogies who just don't get it.Peace <3Jay