PORTIA DE ROSSI - DE ROSSI SIGNS ON FOR GAY RIGHTS AD

Actress PORTIA DE ROSSI has signed up to pay tribute to a murdered homosexual in a new public service announcement TV ad, just days after her partner ELLEN DeGENERES tearfully honoured the gay teen. Comedienne DeGeneres admitted she was deeply affected by the murder of teenager Lawrence King during an emotional outburst on her TV show Ellen last month (Feb08). The 15-year-old was shot in the head at the E.O. Green School in Oxnard, California on 12 February (08) - reportedly for being a homosexual. And now Rossi has joined the cause to honour King - she appears in a new PSA, which debuted on America's gay TV network Logo on Monday (10Mar08). Rossi says, "Imagine if wearing make-up and a dress could get you killed. For 15-year-old Lawrence King, that's just what happened." Grey's Anatomy star T.R. Knight, Janet Jackson, Andre 3000 and Ashanti also appear in the 60-second ad.