New Zealand MP Maurice Williamson, who spoke about a ‘big gay rainbow’ in parliament last week, has been invited to Los Angeles to appear on the Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Prime Minister John Key gave permission for Williamson to travel to the US for the show after concerns that accepting the flights and payment for the show would be against ministerial rules.

‘I’ve made it clear to him that he’d need to donate that [appearance payment] to charity, but outside of that, yes, he’d be free to go,’ said Key, The New Zealand Herald reports.

Williamson tweeted that he ‘would love to’ appear on the gay comedian’s popular talk show ‘if it can be arranged’. He described Degeneres as ‘a real inspiration to us all’.

The 62-year-old minister of customs for the centre-right National government became an overnight gay rights hero after his parliamentary speech in favor of same-sex marriage went viral.

‘One of the messages I had said that this bill was the cause of our draught,’ said Willamson in his speech dismissing the ‘fire and brimstone’ accusations opposing marriage equality.

‘In the Pakuranga electorate this morning it was pouring with rain. We have the most enormous big gay rainbow across my electorate. It has to be a sign, sir!’

The speech has now had coming-up to 2 million views and Williamson has received praise from all over the world, including complimentary tweets from Stephen Fry and Ronan Keating.

‘It’s gone a bit far,’ said Williamson after The New York Times described him as openly gay. ‘My wife wanted to know whether The New York Times knew something more than I did.’

Green MP Kevin Hague, who is openly gay, said Williamson’s gay rights credentials go back farther than last week.

‘He has always been progressive on issues like gay rights, including supporting needle and syringe exchange when it was not popular,’ said Hague, who worked with Williamson on combatting the AIDS crisis in the 1990s, to APNZ.

Watch Williamson’s ‘big gay rainbow’ speech here: