Howard Stern goes to bat for Ellen Degeneris.

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This entire story is mind-boggling (from various sources, including the SLOG and Meherin - thanks!). The back story: Ellen Degeneris, who is a hugely successful media star, was chosen by JC Penny's to be their spokesperson. Ellen is openly gay, which raised the ire of a group who call themselves One Million Moms (even though they more likely number in the 10s of thousands). One Million Moms came out swinging and tried to start a massive boycott of JC Penny. It blew up in their collective faces. Apparently the American public, at least the millions of Ellen fans, didn't agree with the boycott and threw their support behind both Ellen and JC Penny. In the process, One Million Moms has gone down in flames. Here's their website, if you're interested: link.

Ellen had this to say to her foes:

Since the announcement that Ellen would be a new spokesperson for JCPenney, there's been an outpouring of support. There have also been a handful of critics. Ellen addressed them head-on in her monologue.

 

Howard Stern, whose not really known for being the most politically correct sort of dude, also came to Ellen's defence. Here's the clip from his radio show (NSFW language):

Taken from Stern Show Feb 6th 2012

In response to Howard Stern's comments, Dan Savage of Savage Love had this to say:

I can't count the number of times I've defended figures like Howard Stern and Bill Maher—straight entertainers who 1. fully support gay rights but 2. sometimes tell jokes that sensitivos consider homophobic. These guys are on our side and they're good for our side. Yeah, sometimes the tell jokes or do bits that are rooted in what is clearly their own personal discomfort with/fear of gay sex, particularly that man-on-man buttsex they never tire of hearing about, obsessing about, joking about, etc. But you know what? There are a lot of people out there who oppose gay rights because they're uncomfortable with gay sex and a lot of these folks—and lots of them are the kinds of guys who listen to Stern—are convinced that their own personal discomfort with gay sex requires them to oppose gay rights. What the Sterns and Mahers demonstrate is that you can be a little uncomfortable with gay sex—you can even have sense of humor about your discomfort, you can even tell the occasional joke about it—and still support the full civil equality of LGBT people.