It was a great weekend for us lezzies. Another fierce comic came out of the closet and into the spotlight. At an anti-Prop 8 rally in Las Vegas, Wanda Sykes spoke for the first time about being a lesbian and marrying her partner this October. Though she previously declined to discuss her sexual orientation in public, Sykes, like many, was irate at the passing of the ban, and chose to come forward as a representative of the LGBT community.
“We took a huge leap forward and then got dragged 12 feet back,” the New Adventures of Old Christine star told the 1,000 person crowd regarding the ban, “I felt like I was being attacked, personally attacked – our community was being attacked.”
Sykes is an author, actor and stand-up queen, and has been an advocate for the LGBT community for many years. She has touched upon many gay rights issues, and on The Ellen Degeneres Show, spoke about homophobia among African Americans.
Sykes gives a hopeful viewpoint in this crisis, saying that the passing of Prop 8 will spur more activists to speak out and overcome the gay marriage ban across the country. Any civil rights movement has a tipping point, and this could be it for gay rights.
“They pissed off the wrong group of people. They have galvanized a community. We are so together now and we all want the same thing and we shouldn’t have to settle for less. Instead of having gay marriage in California, no, we’re gonna have gay marriage across the country.”
We agree.