Portia Lee James DeGeneres (born Amanda Lee Rogers; 31 January 1973), known professionally as Portia de Rossi , is an Australian actress. She changed her name to Portia when she was 15 after a character in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. In 2010 she changed her name again this time to Portia Lee James DeGeneres.

Portia de Rossi is an out lesbian actress. Portia's story is an all too familiar one for many Hollywood actors. She feared she would jeopardize her career if she came out of the closet. When she finally did come out of the closet, many people didn't believe she was gay. She told the Advocate, "I had a hell of a time convincing people I was gay--which was so annoying! First of all, you live with
the fear people might find out. Then you actually have the courage to tell people and they go, 'I don't think you are gay.'" Portia is married to Ellen DeGeneres.

From 2000 to 2004, de Rossi dated singer Francesca Gregorini, daughter of actress Barbara Bach and stepchild of Ringo Starr. She said most of her family and Ally McBeal cast mates did not know she was a lesbian until tabloid pictures of the couple were published. She declined to publicly discuss the relationship or her sexual orientation at the time.

According to the New York Post's Page Six column, de Rossi and DeGeneres met at a photo shoot in early 2004. Both women were attracted to each other, but each had girlfriends and decided not to act on the attraction. Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi met up again at the VH1, Big in '04 awards and this time decided to act on their attraction.

It seems even beautiful celebrities have a hard time coming out to their families. When Portia came out to her grandmother in 2005, as reported in The Advocate the first thing her grandmother said was, "Well this is a very bad day. Darlin', you're not one of those." Later her grandmother told her, she loves her just the same and would like to meet Ellen.

Portia de Rossi and Ellen DeGeneres live together in Los Angeles. In her Advocate interview she said, "I'm very happy. I'm happier than I ever, ever thought I could be...She's incredible." Portia says when she first saw Ellen, she took her breath away. "That had never happened to me in my life, where I saw somebody and experienced all of those things you hear about in songs and read about in poetry. My knees were weak."

She became engaged to Ellen DeGeneres after the talk show host proposed to her with a three-carat pink diamond ring. They were married on 16 August 2008 at their Beverly Hills home, with 19 guests including their respective mothers.

Tags: Famous Lesbian Portia de Rossi