Proposition 8 passage a shock to de Rossi

LOS ANGELES, March 14 (UPI) -- Actress Portia de Rossi, who is married to TV star Ellen DeGeneres, says she was shocked when Proposition 8 passed in California.

The 36-year-old actress said when she learned the measure banning gay marriage in California passed Nov. 4, she began crying, the Los Angeles Times reported online Saturday.

"I just remember being so excited when Obama was elected, it was just such an amazing moment ... . I just remember going to bed thinking, 'Proposition 8?'" de Rossi said. "And I woke up in the morning to the news that it passed. And I -- I was shocked and I was deeply saddened."

While de Rossi's marriage to DeGeneres is still legal because it occurred before the proposition's passage, the actress expressed concern over gay rights.

"I just really think that when people really understand that this is a human rights issue and that there are a percentage of people living in this country that don't have the same rights as everybody else, I think that people will be compelled to make sure that they live in a country where every single citizen has the same rights," the co-star of the ABC "Better Off Ted" comedy series said.