Ellen Degeneres - De Rossi Puts Gay Rights Campaigning Before Acting

ELLEN DEGENERES' wife PORTIA DE ROSSI is thankful she's one half of a Hollywood power couple - because she wants to use her fame to "make a difference" in the fight for gay rights.

The openly gay pair wed in 2008, taking advantage of the Supreme Court ruling which legalised same-sex unions in California.

But their rights were revoked just months later after the passing of the Proposition 8 bill, which reversed the previous ruling permitting the marriages.

De Rossi believes she has finally found her real calling as she steps into her new role as a gay rights campaigner - and hopes she can make a real change in the world.

She tells The Advocate magazine, "Ever since Ellen and I got together, I feel like I've been given an opportunity to actually - God, this sounds corny... Well, I feel like my life can actually kind of stand for something. And I don't mean that in a self-aggrandising way, like, 'Look at me, I can make a difference.' But I feel like, maybe I get why I'm here. Maybe by sharing my life, I can make people more aware of how important gay marriage is."

And the former Ally MCBeal star is adamant fighting for gay rights is the number one priority in her life - even over-shadowing her acting career.

She adds, "Of course (it's more important than acting.) Actors come and go. Characters come and go. TV shows come and go. While acting is entertaining, for me personally, it's a little empty. My career is only a part of my life, and it's certainly not what I think I was born to do."

De Rossi will be lauded with the Human Rights Campaign's Visibility Award at a ceremony in Los Angeles next month (Mar10), in honour of her "courage to come out publicly and to take a stand for same-sex marriage."