Portia de Rossi Takes on Elisabeth Hasselbeck Over Gay Rights

Avowed conservative Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Portia De Rossi turned The View into even more of a debating ground today, after Elisabeth proposed an interesting, albeit odd analogy. Elisabeth asked Portia, who married Ellen DeGeneres before Prop 8 banned gay marriage, if she really thinks the word marriage is that important for gay people.

"Take men and women. Women want all the rights of men, but they're not asking to be called men," Elisabeth said. "Do you think...is the word marriage more important than the rights?"

"No, of course the word isn't more important than the rights," Portia responded. "Without the word, we don't have equal rights."

Portia went on to further her point, gracefully addressing Elisabeth's argument with a strong case of her own.

"Every citizen of this country should have that legal right to be married," she argued. "Marriage the word actually does mean something because people who see a gay coupling as a lesser thing in society can continue to think it's lesser than marriage when really it's the exact same thing. The exact same love, the exact same commitment, love of family."