Last week's episode, and several to come will feature Ellen's continuing coming out process and the character's search for love. Last week's episode was the only one to feature the advisory. While ABC said "other reasons" existed for the warning, many speculated that it was because of a humorous kiss between Ellen and her friend Paige (Joely Fisher). DeGeneres spoke out about the double standard of giving Ellen the advisory when many much more explicit heterosexual sexual situations, graphic violence, and even other same-sex kisses did not warrant the severe warning.

GLAAD spoke with representatives of both the program and the network, urging a resolution which was fair to lesbians and gay men, and mobilized national support for removal of the advisory.

In addition, GLAAD exposed a recent attempt by a radical religious group to stuff the ballot box on ABCnews.com when the site asked the question, "Would you allow your child to watch a lesbian kiss on television?" While the answer was strongly affirmative throughout the polling period, the final tally even with the anti-gay ploy to "fix" the election had 69% "yes" to just under 33% saying "no" of nearly 15,000 polled.

"Both ABC's poll and their decision to remove the advisory speak volumes to America's willingness to see lesbian and gay characters represented with fairness and with the same standards as heterosexuals receive," said GLAAD Entertainment Media Director Chastity Bono. "We commend ABC for recognizing that Ellen deserves the same treatment as other shows like it that may not have lesbian and gay characters. We also commend Ellen DeGeneres for her not only standing up for her show, but for the equality of the entire community."

"When creating groundbreaking television in uncharted territory, sometimes missteps will happen," said Joan M. Garry, GLAAD Executive Director. "It's great to know that ABC has rethought its double-standard. Now we can all move forward with a renewed commitment to changing the face of American television each week."

GLAAD will continue to monitor and report on Ellen and its media coverage, and has reintroduced "Ellen Watch" at GLAAD Online (http://www.glaad.org). This resource will continually update the community on which companies have advertised this season on Ellen.

GLAAD is a national organization that promotes fair, accurate and inclusive representation of individuals and events in the media as a means of combating homophobia and all forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity.