"Wanda Sykes Has A Wife. Got A Problem With That?"

[orleans]

video at link:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedishrag/2008/11/wanda-sykes-wif.html

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 and then got dragged about 12 steps back. ... Our community was attacked," Sykes told the cheering crowd.

"The New Adventures of Old Christine" star told the audience that she married her wife on Oct. 25. But she admits she doesn't talk about her sexual orientation often in public. However, the recent passage of Proposition 8 has made her so angry that she has decided to be more vocal.

"If we had equal rights, we shouldn't have to be standing out here demanding something that we automatically should have as citizens of this country," Sykes said. "... I said, 'You know what, now I gotta get in your face.' And that's what we all have to do now. They pissed off the wrong group of people! They have galvanized our community.”

[meowomon]

1. Yeh, I got a problem with that...

she's unavailable and I wanted my chance!

[Wetzelbill]

9. so it's true women really do like a sense of humor

:)

[roguevalley]

62. ha. I know. isn't she the best? she slays me.

[Sherman A1]

2. No, not at all

Don't care who marries who, what they do in their private lives or whatever.


As long as my neighbor keeps his or her grass cut and house in repair, what goes on in the bedroom between consenting adults is their concern.

[orleans]

3. how short does the grass have to be?

:evilgrin:

[Bluebear]

4. By the way, marriage is about love, not sex (re: "what goes on in the bedroom")

:)

[tavalon]

34. Amen to that one!

Whenever people find out I'm in a triad, they want to know who sleeps with who. Every once and while, someone will say something like "wow, that must be complicated working out the day to day stuff that happens in a marriage, only multiplied!" Those are the ones that I invariably get into longer conversations about my unusual love style. I don't have much interest in discussing who sleeps with whom - that's so very superficial.

[Chovexani]

55. I think you and I had this discussion once before

Token polys unite. :hi:

Our standard answer is "do you discuss the logistics of your sex life with anyone other than your SO?" That usually shuts them up.

Between that bullshit and "what do you girls...do..." (because everyone knows it's not really sex until a schlong is involved!), I'm convinced most people in this country are so uptight about sex it's all they can think about whenever they encounter someone queer or in a non-traditional relationship in general. Yet somehow we're supposed to be the deviants, lol.

I think that's why it bugs the crap out of me when well-meaning folks use the "I don't care what you do in the bedroom" line. It distills our entire lives down to which tab goes into which slot and it's kind of demeaning. Not that there's anything demeaning about sex, just that queer people are about more than who we sleep with.

[LostinVA]

20. don't understand what sex has to do with equal marriage rights -- I'm confused?

[tavalon]

35. Isn't it weird how that's where people always get drawn to?

Slippery bits are so little of what makes relationships important. I'm always amazed that that is where people want to look first!

[LostinVA]

41. Seriously -- it says more about them than anyone else

[mondo joe]

36. Marriage is about a lot more than "what goes on in the bedroom", FYI.

[intheflow]

5. So... here's a question:

(Another annoying question from a hetero! :eyes:)

Am I the only person who finds the term "sexual orientation" annoying? To me, it sounds like "lifestyle choice" bullshit, as if one could just re-orient their sexuality on a whim. I always use "gender identity," but am I just being too sensitive/nit-picky/out-and-out dumb to even be concerned with these semantics?

[Bunny]

7. I think gender identity refers to whether you identify as a male or a female, and not

who you are sexually attracted to. Like people who are transgendered or transsexual.

[Behind the Aegis]

8. Here's an answer.

I don't know if you are the only person that finds the term "sexual orientation" annoying, but I know some don't care for it because it sounds "too sterile." They feel it is too clinical and not descriptive of a a person as a whole. I, personally, disagree. I find the tern to be appropriate. To me, "orientation" sounds more like something a person is (by birth); it is how someone is "wired."

Gender identity is something different all together. Gender is male, female, hermaphroditic, or androgynous. Like an "orientation," an "identity" could also be changed, and, IMHO, changed more easily, in some cases.

Did I make any sense?

[intheflow]

49. You make perfect sense!

When you say sexual identity can easily be changed, of course you are right on target. Being straight can have such limitations on how one sees the world!

Thanks for the answer. :hi:

[terrya]

13. I use "sexual orientation". It's FAR better than "sexual preference"

Which DOES donote a "choice".

[intheflow]

51. Oh, yes!

Now that you say it, I realize that I was translating "orientation" as "preference" in my head. :crazy: Thanks for reminding me what it really means.

[terrya]

57. I understand.

You were asking a perfectly good question. I get sort of defensive when I see someone using "sexual preference"...because then I'll unfortunately see "lifestyle choice" and "I don't care what they do in the bedroom, I don't want them to flaunt themselves on the rest of us" after that...it gets annoying.

:hi:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

17. Sexual orientation doesn't bother me

Gender identity is different. It's what gender you identify as.

[LostinVA]

21. Gender ID is TOTALLY different than sexual orientation

[originalpckelly]

30. "Dad, we had a sexual orientation in school today." It's for that reason I prefer homolicious.

:P

[Terran]

39. I think Gore Vidal advocated the term "homosexualist"

:rofl:

"Sexual orientation" is fine, trust us. It's nice and neutral, and that's good.

[intheflow]

52. OMG!

Can this straight girl co-opt and use the term homolicious? I think that may become my new favorite word.:bounce:

[Sabriel]

48. How about "sexual identity"?

It covers a spectrum, where to me, "orientation" has always connoted a specific point or even the ol' binary way of looking at it.

[intheflow]

53. Now that's a diplomatic answer.

Taking the best of each expression and uniting them for one inclusive, precise term. :thumbsup:

[Syrinx]

6. All I'm interested in...

Is did she really work for the NSA? And if so, what does she know?

[Drunken Irishman]

10. She's so hot.

Seriously, I've had a crush on Wanda for years.

[SusanaMontana41]

11. Wanda Sykes is way cool

Loved her before and love her even more now. I'll bet her wife is as amazing as she is.

[SoCalDem]

14. I love her interaction with larry David..and when she was on

Fat Actress too :) She;s funny as hell :)

[Olney Blue]

18. Her comic interactions with Larry David are brilliant.

[Name removed]

12. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[4lbs]

15. That's puts the season opener of "New Adventures of Old Christine" in a new light.

Wanda's character on the show finds out she's not legal anymore after her divorce (she immigrated and married some guy back when they were both in college). She's in danger of being deported as a result. Christine offered to marry her under CA's gay marriage allowance (before Prop 8) so she could stay. They kissed and everything. Although, getting to that point was the hilarious theme of the episode.

[SmileyRose]

16. I'm shocked - shocked I tell ya.

Good on Wanda for standing up to be counted.

another reason to like her.


I hope in my lifetime we can get to the point where someone can go on about their life and not have to stand up be counted over who they love.

[Mad_Dem_X]

19. She's awesome. n/t

[LostinVA]

22. A deleted subthread? WTF?

[gaspee]

24. Some sensitive soul

Posted something along the lines of ... Wanda Sykes is lez? He never would have guessed!

And yes, he used "lez"

Guess he didn't think it was offensive. I did, but I chose to ignore it. I didn't waste my time alerting on it - figured it would serve as a good example, but I guess someone alerted on it.

[originalpckelly]

27. Wand Sykes is a lez? I never would have guessed!

:rofl:

Lez? Really? Is that like Pez for lesbians?

Lez dispenser: mother of more than one lesbian.

"That lady is a lez dispenser."

"What do you mean?"

"She's had more than one lesbian girl."

"Oh."

[LostinVA]

28. Oh boy

[originalpckelly]

29. We must give him credit...

after all for him to have picked his knuckles off the ground just to type that must have been a real chore for that knuckle-dragger.

[LynneSin]

23. Ok, I had no clue she was even gay

God I'm such a dumbass

Good for you Wanda - if anyone can kick asses my money is on you

[originalpckelly]

26. OMG! You mean there are people in this world who don't fall into the normal stereotypes of...

gay/lesbian?

:wow:

I'm shocked!

[LynneSin]

31. It's not that - it's just that at this point alot of Hollywood is out

and perhaps no one sent me the memo.

[originalpckelly]

33. As I'm fond of saying, "TEH GAYS ARE EVERYWHERE!"

:P

[Bluenorthwest]

42. I understand the confusion, but in reality

almost none of 'Hollywood' is out. That is the fact. Few are out in public, be they actors or producers or anything else. It is still a huge career risk. The entertainment industry is far less open than many people think.

[LynneSin]

46. Like Bunny had said - she was one married to a man

and I remember her doing standup making jokes about him. So although you are right on your point, for the most part everything pointed to the fact that she was straight.

[Bunny]

32. Well, to be fair, she used to be married. To a man.

I didn't realize she was bi and/or lesbian either.

[LynneSin]

37. I seem to recall her joking about her husband

:shrug:

[Bunny]

44. Yeah, back when she was Wanda Sykes-Hall.

She joked about her husband a lot.

[mondo joe]

40. I didn't know either, but agree: good person for kicking ass.

:hi:

[originalpckelly]

25. Score one point for the homos.

We've got another good one on our side! AHAHAHAHAHA! TEH GAYS ARE EVERYWHERE!

[AlCzervik]

38. i love Wanda, she used to be a writer on The Chris Rock show and every now

and then she'd be in a sketch, always hilarious and just seems like a good person.

[Bluenorthwest]

45. God that was the greatest show!

And Wanda is always funny. Always funny is my highest compliment. I just love her. I watch anything with Wanda. I'm glad she's speaking out. Happy for her, and for us.

[Rockholm]

43. I adore Wanda Sykes.

She is funny....very funny.

[ProfessorGAC]

47. And, That's All That Matters

Who she married should matter to nobody. If she's funny, and she's happy, that's good enough.
The Professor

[Karenina]

50. Maybe she'll lead the charge to call out

all those black homophobes responsible for H8 passing, especially the churchified ones. Yeah, THAT'S the ticket!!! Nothing any of the rest of us had to say made a dent, GO WANDA!!! They LIKE YOU! They REALLY like YOU! :evilgrin:

[MiniMe]

54. Got no problem with it, and wouldn't say anything if I did

Wanda could whip my butt, both verbally and physically.

I love Wanda Sykes. You go girl!

[applegrove]

56. Good for her for outing herself and her partner. It matters for young

gay or lesbian kids to have more people to look up to.

[bluedawg12]

59. Positve role models and pride, a great thing.

[applegrove]

60. I'm not gay but I did get lost in my teenage years by admiring the wrong

family (not my own). I ended up as a ninny until I was 25. Wasted years and made myself vulnerable to being stalked (since I was naive).

I can just imagine how awful it would be to be a gay or lesbian teen and needing someone outside of family to admire and model on. Wanda has done a great thing.

[bluedawg12]

58. I'm looking forward to some good comedy bits from Wanda

I imagine she is going to use her wit to skewer some anti- GLBTQ related issues as only she can.

[Karenina]

61. How about Wanda Sykes vs. T.D.Jakes?

It would SO need to be pay-per-view!!!