Wanda Sykes: I'm a Lesbian and I Have a Wife

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"Seems Ellen DeGeneres isn't the only funny lady with a wife. Comedian Wanda Sykes is also married to a woman.

Sykes spoke out this weekend at a rally in Las Vegas protesting the passage of Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in California.

'We took a huge leap forward [in electing Barack Obama] and then got dragged about 12 steps back. ... Our community was attacked,' Sykes told the cheering crowd. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedishrag/2008/11/wanda-sykes-wif.html

Most of my readers are probably thinking: Who the hell is Wanda Sykes and why should we care about her sexual orientation?

Sykes is a stand-up comedian and actress who has appeared in scores of films including: My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Clerks II, Pootie Tang and Evan Almighty. She's one of those character actors that we recognize by face and not by name.

And we should be glad the African American celebrity came out of the closet, because the anti-gay Proposition 8 received overwhelming support from her fellow African Americans. We need more prominent blacks to speak out against homophobia.

I admire Sykes because she has never pretended to be straight, she came out to her friends and colleagues a long time ago. She isn't using her coming out to the public at large as publicity to boost her career, but to protest the passage of Proposition 8.

Robert Paul Reyes is a NewsBlaze writer on Politics, Pop Culture and Pointless Pontificating. Contact him by writing to NewsBlaze.