People in the News: DeGeneres is going to the chapel

Ellen DeGeneres is tying the knot with girlfriend Portia de Rossi.

DeGeneres announced their engagement Thursday during a taping of her daytime talk show, the same day the California Supreme Court overturned a state law banning gay marriage.

	DeGeneres and de Rossi

"So I would like to say now, for the first time, I am announcing: I am getting married," she said during the show, which aired Friday. The announcement was followed by cheers and applause from the audience as cameras showed de Rossi in the studio.

"Thank you. I'll tell you who the lucky guy is soon," DeGeneres joked.

In a separate interview with The Advocate, DeGeneres said she was thrilled with the ruling and cannot wait to marry.

"We all deserve the same rights, and I believe that someday ... not allowing gays to marry will seem as absurd as not allowing women to vote," she said.

DeGeneres, 50, and de Rossi, 35, started dating in December 2004.

Dennis Rodman is facing domestic violence charges for allegedly hitting his girlfriend last month.

Rodman, 46, was charged Wednesday with three misdemeanors -- spousal battery, brandishing a deadly weapon, and one count of dissuading a witness.

The ex-NBA star was arrested April 30 after girlfriend Gina Peterson called security at a hotel in Century City near Beverly Hills. Peterson suffered injuries to her arms, Los Angeles police reported.

A spokesman for Rodman said he was intoxicated when he got into an altercation with Peterson and that the couple is still dating.

"American Idol" season five winner Taylor Hicks will join the Broadway cast of "Grease."

Hicks is following the footsteps of other "Idol" alums, including Fantasia Barrino and Clay Aiken, in appearing on Broadway.

-- P-I staff and news services