The episode, which bore the night's only parental warning, featured Ellen's growing acceptance of being openly gay as she struggles to feel comfortable showing affection with her new girlfriend Laurie (Lisa Darr).

When Ellen meets Laurie's daughter, an initially positive first meeting turns ugly. Later, Ellen is surprised to discover the daughter is upset with her for not showing affection towards Laurie in public, not the other way around, as Ellen had suspected. Laurie also meets Ellen's parents for the very first time.

While a number of previous Ellen episodes have touched on many important issues facing the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community (job discrimination, coming out to parents, trying to find a sense of community, etc.), Wednesday's episode brilliantly handled Ellen's continuing coming out process, including issues surrounding gay parenting and the difficult and often awkward first meetings between parents and their gay child's significant other.

This season's Ellen is continuing to break ground by handling difficult issues in a humorous and often touching manner. Yet, ABC has set a double standard for lesbian and gay content on television by placing a warning on a show that did not have overt sexual content nor any violence.

Ellen featured hugs and same-sex hand-holding. In the two shows that proceeded "Ellen" that night, Dharma & Greg had sex in a parked car, and Drew Carey stripped in a Full Monty parody. Neither featured any parental warning.

Please write the Ellen show and Ellen DeGeneres and thank her for a funny, well-written and thought provoking show. It is crucial that they know that you are supportive. Please copy ABC and Disney on the letters you send.

… Ellen Productions, 500 S. Buena Vista, Burbank, CA 91521-2905

… Ellen DeGeneres c/o Arthur Imparato, 1122 S. Roxbury, Los Angeles, CA 90035;

… Jamie Tarses, Entertainment President, ABC, 2040 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angles, CA 90037, fax: 310.557.7679, e-mail: abcaudr@abc.com;

… Michael Eisner, Chairman and David Newman, President of Network TV, The Walt Disney Company, 500 South Buena Vista Street, Burbank, CA 91521, fax: 818.560.1930, e-mail: WWW: http://www.disney.com/Mail.

The November 12 Los Angeles Times featured an in-depth article about Lisa Darr, the actress portraying Ellen Morgan's first girlfriend on Ellen. "Getting To Know Her," by Greg Braxton, explores the actresses' career to date, including a short stint on NYPD Blue as a lesbian, her success on Ellen and her views on playing gay (she is heterosexual). "Playing characters like this is a non-issue for me, and I didn't really think about it at all," Darr tells the Times. "These are two women (her character and Ellen's) that just happen to be gay. Their sexuality is not the focus of who they are. I'm really proud to be able to bring this to the forefront. It's a part of life, and should be accepted as such," she adds.

Please thank Lisa Darr for freely expressing her views on sexual orientation and for not shying away from lesbian roles on television. Also, thank the Los Angeles Times for such an in-depth article on her. Contact: … Lisa Darr c/o Marc Scroggs, Paul Kohner, Inc., 9300 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 555, Beverly Hills, CA 900212; … Michael Parks, Managing Editor, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053, fax: 213.237.4712, e-mail: letters@latimes.com.

GLAAD promotes fair, accurate and inclusive representation as a means of challenging all forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity.

Contact GLAAD by e-mail at glaad@glaad.org or by phone at 213.658.6775 (Los Angeles), 212.807.1700 (New York), 415.861.2244 (San Francisco), 202.986.1360 (Washington, DC), 404.607.1204 (Atlanta) and 816.374.5927 (Kansas City)

Report defamation in the media by calling GLAAD's Toll-Free AlertLine! 1-800-GAY-MEDIA (1-800-429-6334) Visit GLAAD Online at http://www.glaad.org