Wanda Sykes: "I'm Proud To be Gay"

LAS VEGAS — Comedian Wanda Sykes says the passage of a same-sex marriage ban in California has led to her be more outspoken about being gay.

"You know, I don't really talk about my sexual orientation. I didn't feel like I had to. I was just living my life, not necessarily in the closet, but I was living my life," Sykes told a crowd at a gay rights rally in Las Vegas on Saturday.

"Everybody that knows me personally they know I'm gay. But that's the way people should be able to live their lives," she said.

Sykes, who is known for her feisty and blunt style, said the passage of California's Proposition 8 made her feel like she was "attacked."

"Now, I gotta get in their face," she said. "I'm proud to be a woman. I'm proud to be a black woman, and I'm proud to be gay."

Sykes' appearance at the Las Vegas rally surprised organizers. She was in town performing at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino.

Comments

[Landry]

i'm curious, because blacks voted against prop8 and whites voted for Obama somehow blacks are at fought because some people happen to believe marriage is between a man and woman. So are blacks now responsible for discriminating against gays. Another thing racial discrimination and gay discrimination are not even close in comparison. Gays were not taken from there country away from there culture and sold into slavery where many many inhumane things happened to them. I'm sorry no comparisons not even close. I do believe all should be treatted equal but don't try to make one issue responsibe for another. There's enough issues to go around.

[GenieG]

It's about church and fear.

[bbbbmer]

I adore Wanda Sykes, now more than ever!!!

[DoctorWhoDat]

Wanda your gay? Actually I don't care but you are funny.

[jcarson1971]

More Info:
In Western Europe, it was not until the Middle Ages that marriage in churches began to occur. However, church marriages were not the norm until the 17th century, and then only for the nobility. Marriage was also used as a tool to unite different royal families' bloodlines, creating alliances that were instrumental in enabling the European monarchies to colonize the globe.

Like most other social institutions, marriage as we know it today has evolved over the centuries. As the joining of man and woman, it has increased in complexity as societies have become more sophisticated and civilized. Heavily steeped in custom and tradition and civil law, many practices have died away as new ones replaced them. It has been said, however, that Westerners marry the woman they love, and Easterners love the woman they marry! It was not until the 9th or 10th century that women gained the privilege of choosing or refusing their husbands according to their own judgment. From the many stories, legends, and myths that have come down to us from ages past, we know that love has always played a part in marriage. However, civilization had to advance beyond the primitive stages before marriage by love became accepted. you can see my entire comment on this subject here. http://pwp.att.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=16&groupid=394829&ck=

[jcarson1971]

I can see by some of the comments posted here that some people just do not get it. Marriage didn't begin as a religious institution. if marriage hadn't been redefined In the U.S. up until 1967 in almost a third of the country blacks and whites could not marry each other and before that because blacks were slaves they couldn’t marry each other and if so could be torn apart as slaves were bought and sold off. Is this what is considered the sanctity of marriage?
Being married has many legal advantages and rights when compared to "living together." Among these are the right to:
1) file joint income tax returns with the IRS and State taxing authorities, and claim dependency deductions, 2) receive
marital and dependency medical, social security, disability, unemployment, veterans', pension and public assistance benefits, 3) receive a share of the deceased spouse's estate under intestate succession laws, 4) claim gift and estate
tax benefits, 5) sue for wrongful death, loss of consortium, alienation of affection and criminal conversation, 6) receive
family rates for insurance, 7) avoid the deportation of a non-citizen spouse, 8) enter hospital intensive care units, jails
and other places where visitors are restricted to immediate family, 9) live in neighborhoods zoned "families only",
10) make medical decisions re. Your spouse in the event of a disability, and 11) claim the marital communication privilege
all of these are not granted with the gay term of "Civil Union"

[GenieG]

JCarson Thank you
Civil Union is not enough.
We pay taxes and should have to right to pursue happiness....

[weatherwaxx]

People of African origin have suffered in this country for hundreds of years.

Jews have had it rough, particularly in the mid-20th century in Europe.

Native Americans were nearly wiped out when Europeans invaded their continent. Many tribes are now utterly extinct, and most reservations are still sinkholes of dire poverty.

Women have been second-class citizens in most cultures as far back as recorded time. Some women have climbed out, but a couple of weeks ago A 13-year old girl was STONED TO DEATH in Africa for being the victim of a gang rape!

Gays have been suffering discrimination for hundreds of years, in most cultures -- and EVERY ONE OF THOSE GROUPS ABOVE includes gay and lesbian people.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: IT ISN'T AN OLYMPIC EVENT.

We can point fingers at each other, complain how our suffering is worse than X's suffering -- or we can work together.

I know who this quarreling helps -- and it isn't us.

[GenieG]

Being denied you basic civil rights is wrong . I am a Lesbian and part native american... who cares?

[newshadeofblue]

I thought she was the celebrity who did a HBO special proclaiming she does not give a you know what! Things aren't so funny now are they?

[xanbix]

If you're not a black homosexual working-class woman, you're an oppressor pig.

[helpusa]

I happened to have worked in the precinct where Wanda voted. Gee, I wonder how she voted on Prop.8.
I know she was excited to vote and wanted to make sure she was going to vote correctly since our system was different from what she was used to.

LOVE WANDA, (not in a gay way).

[loggerboots]

the United States is i think the only country that allows church sanctioned marriages.It is true that you have to have a marriage license for the minister priest or rabbi to sign. All thru europe you are legally married in a cival ceremony (Charles and Di-Charles and Camilla) and than proceed with a church blessing, the only marriage that is legal is the cival ceremony. Why do churches even worry about people who probably never get married in a church anyway?

[weatherwaxx]

Because sticking their control issues in other folks' private lives gives them a thrill, I guess. There's no sane reason.

[lynjs]

There you go. Just plain meddling...in something that doesn't concern them instead of helping someone keep their home, get a job, healthcare, education, transportation, food and clothing.

[GenieG]

Any str8 couple can go to city hall and get married. They do not need the church to get married but the government
We all need to separate the church from the State .

[rudedog1950]

I am so disappointed she is gay! I wish she had stayed in the closet. I will not view her the same as before.

[Lefty08]

I feel the same way when I discover that some folks are straight. I never view them in the same way again either....it's just so disappointing!

[weatherwaxx]

Why? She's just as funny. She hasn't changed, it's you.

I wish everybody were out of the closet -- especially married men who think they aren't 'gay' if they pay for it.

[M1]

Way to Go Wanda! Very, very, courageous!!

[DCCommuter]

Well, unless we are going to tell gays to pay less taxes than everyone else, then they should get the same rights.

[Lefty08]

Thank you.

[Quazga09]

I cringe when I hear people comparing the gay movement to that of African americans civil right movement. It is trivializing and minimizing one of the most important human event in our history. African americans fought for their survival, for basic human right that should have been afforded to every human being automatically. They fought to assert that they are human being too and deserve a common decency. They did not force their believe or agenda, they just want to co-exist. They just happened to be black. For that they were punished. They were dehumanized, and even after the end of slavery and jim crow, their children are still mentally incapacitated. Generations psychologically scared forever. So African American fought to end this human tragedy. There is no human event in recorded history that is worth comparing with this dark chapter in the american history. Homosexuals should be afforded the same right as a human being. But to make laws that fundamentally changes the foundation of this country would be a colossal mistake. Homosexuality is a choice, guarantied other extrinsic events and circumstances beyond the subjects control may have contributed but in the end it is a personal choice. I am not trying to minimize the psychological anguish faced by individual dealing with homosexuality. Treat every one equal but do not try to force something that undermine my core believe. African american fought because of their race, which they have no control over. Homosexual made the choice

[pipetoe]

I am with you Quazga09.
I think that most African Americans feel this way; at least the ones I know.

[midknightryder13]

Count this gay man of color as one of those who DOESN'T feel this way. No one is saying that the struggles of AA to achieve equal rights are IDENTICAL to gays -- but to say there are no similarities is disingenuious.

[AxelDC]

A) Homosexuality is NOT a choice. You simply choose to ignore the overwhelming psychological, biological and genetic evidence, along with the anecdotal evidence of every gay person I have ever met.

B) Religion is a choice, but we still protect those who CHOOSE to be Jewish, Catholic or Baptist. In fact, the Mormons spend billions every year to encourage people to CHANGE religions. Does that mean that we should remove protections for religion because it is so obviously a CHOICE?

[kjstjohn]

Quazga09, I started out posting on this thread not understanding what people with your view were saying. Now I understand so I have grown from participating in this dialogue.

I am also heartbroken from the testimonies given by gays. They are saying they are not making a choice. I believe them. One reason I believe them is that I have looked at my own life and I know that I was straight at birth. When I was a young woman, my relationship with my husband was as important to me as life itself. If someone had told me I could never have a husband (my husband), I probably would have killed myself. (I don't say that lightly.)

I will never again say that being black is like being gay because that has caused too much pain for the black people on this site. But I hope there are people reading this thread who have a new appreciation for the terrible (unnecessary) suffering of gay people who are asking for nothing more basic or decent than to be able to commit their love to another person.

[kjstjohn]

Caught by the filter. Let me try again.

Quazga09, I started out posting on this thread not understanding what people with your view were saying. Now I understand so I have grown from participating in this dialogue.

I am also heartbroken from the testimonies given by gays. They are saying they are not making a choice. I believe them. One reason I believe them is that I have looked at my own life and I know that I was straight at birth. When I was a young woman, my relationship with my husband was as important to me as life itself. If someone had told me I could never have a husband (my husband), I don't know that I would have survived. (I don't say that lightly.)

I will never again say that being black is like being gay because that has caused too much pain for the black people on this site. But I hope there are people reading this thread who have a new appreciation for the terrible (unnecessary) suffering of gay people who are asking for nothing more basic or decent than to be able to commit their love to another person.

[FreetoBme]

We made a CHOICE? Why would anyone choose to be outcast from family, religion, laws and friends? This is the main problem with straight vs gay. You just don't get it. I tried to be straight, to fit in. Tried dating girls, even tried sex with them but it simply didn't work. I'm just not created that way.
Try to understand that all people are not created the same and try not to judge. Walk a mile in our shoes and you may understand.... Could YOU choose to be gay?

[care4mypeeps]

I have an view that is developing. I am straight, multi-racial and religious. I espouse my belief from the Bible in regards to homosexuality. I see and am affected by the cruel treament of those who are openly gay and have such a compassion for them.

I must apologize for the intolorance and cruelty some in the religious world directs toward those who are gay.

Since there are so many who have not chosen to come out of the closet due to ridicule and cruelty.

It behooves all of us to be kindly affectionate toward each other even if we don't agree with each others lifestyle.

Haven said that, I still espouse my biblical belief but do not feel the need to judge.
I just can't understand how people can totally disregard God's warnings in Romans 1:26-32 and
2Timothy 3:3

We need to find more common ground instead of focusing on what makes us different.
If you really think about it we are all family because every family has someone who is gay.

So does that mean they cease to be our family? God forbid, we need to love them as Christ loves them and gave His life for them.

[kjstjohn]

you sound like a very kind person. I will give you an answer that may sound flip but I endured years of prayerful pain in coming to my conclusion.

I do not give the same weight to the letters of Paul that I give to the example of Jesus. Where I find a contradiction, I go with Jesus.