Celebrity Friday: Wanda Sykes Is A Mommy!

Thanks to Joe.My.God I found out that Wanda Sykes is a brand new proud parent! According to People magazine, the comedian's wife gave birth to twins on April 27th:

Wanda Sykes and her wife, Alex, welcomed twins on April 27, her rep tells PEOPLE exclusively.

Daughter Olivia Lou weighed in at 6 lbs., 7 oz., and was 19-inches long. Son Lucas Claude debuted at 7 lbs., 9 oz., and was 20-inches long. The comedian's wife gave birth to the babies.

"All are happy and healthy and at home," says Sykes's rep Danica Smith.

The actress, who stars on New Adventures of Old Christine, and her wife were married on Oct. 25, 2008. The twins are the first children for the couple.

Will the Supreme Court of California divorce the parents of Olivia and Lucas by upholding Proposition 8? Stay tuned.

Celebrity Friday: Wanda Sykes and MadProfessah

For the third consecutive Friday, Wanda Sykes is the topic of our Celebrity Friday at MadProfessah.com. This picture was taken with the openly lesbian comedienne at the Marriage Equality Now Rally in Sacramento on Monday February 16th, 2009.

Celebrity Friday: Wanda Sykes To Host WH Correspondents Dinner

Newly out Wanda Sykes has been chosen to be the entertainment at the White House Correspondents' Associaton Dinner, one of the de rigeur social events that occur in Washington, D.C. Very popular comedians like Stephen Colbert have previously been unafraid to make fun of the President of the United States while speaking within 10 feet of him in front of 2000 invited guests.

Obama is expected to attend the black-tie affair at the Washington Hilton and to follow in his predecessors' tradition by putting on a comedy act of his own. The guest list of some 2,000 people will likely include the usual mix of Washington elite, White House press corps and Hollywood celebrities.

"The first thing I did when they asked me to do this gig — I made sure my taxes were paid," quipped Sykes, taking a dig at the withdrawal of former U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle from Obama's cabinet due to unpaid taxes.

[...]

Sykes, 44, has established a comic identity around her blunt, feisty personality. Last year, the comedian publicly announced she is gay and spoke out against the passage of California's Proposition 8 to ban same-sex marriage. Sykes appears on "The New Adventures of Old Christine," and first made a name on TV with stints on "The Chris Rock Show" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm." Jennifer Loven of The Associated Press is president of the association and chose Sykes because of her fresh style and engaging stage presence.

[...]

The White House Correspondents' Association was formed in 1914 as a liaison between the White House press corps and the presidents they cover. Every president since Calvin Coolidge has attended the dinner.

Celebrity Friday: Wanda Sykes Profiled in The Advocate

Wanda Sykes has a profile written by reporter Ari Karpel in the latest Advocate magazine, which is now a monthly. There are some interesting tidbits into the newest members of the Out Celebrity pantheon which include Ellen Degeneres, Neil Patrick Harris, T.R. Knight, Rosie O'Donnell and Sir Ian McKellen (notice anything in common between these bold-faced names? Yup, they're all white.)

Happily, the author doesn't repeat "the zombie meme" when he discusses Proposition 8 and Black people in the article:

On November 4, still riding high on the joy of their recent nuptials, Sykes and Alexandra were lifted even higher at the news of Barack Obama’s victory. But just a few hours later, like so many progressive Californians, they experienced emotional whiplash as it became evident that Prop. 8 had passed.

As an African-American in a week-old marriage, it stung Sykes even more when reports started coming in that black voters had overwhelmingly sided with the antigay measure. (Initial reports that 70% of African-Americans voters supported Prop. 8 have recently been debunked; a National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute study has shown that a more accurate number is 57%–59%.) She said it felt as if her family was being attacked. “Like, hey I’m sitting here living my life and suddenly the government -- the people, really -- walked in the door to our living room and said, ‘No, you’re not allowed to do this.’ And that’s frightening.”

At first, the comedian says, she felt guilty and wondered if she should have been more outspoken. “I mean, I wrote the checks and signed the petitions and did all that, but could I have done more?” Then she realized that, for her, doing more would mean one thing: coming out publicly. It was a wake-up call, she says. “Now I have to be in your face.” So, that night, she and Alexandra discussed it. “I said, ‘This is what I feel I have to do,’ and she was totally supportive. She was like, ‘OK, let’s do this.’” The next morning, Sykes called someone she’d met years before but barely knew -- out gay actor Doug Spearman (Noah’s Arc), who is African-American and who, as Sykes remembered, served on Equality California’s board of directors.

“I had no idea Wanda was gay,” Spearman says today. “But she is a huge hero of mine—as an actress, as a comedian, and as a working black person.” Perhaps that’s why he didn’t believe it really was Sykes who’d left him a voice mail that morning. “I thought, Somebody’s playing a little tricky trick on me.”

[...]

Sykes was scheduled to perform at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas the weekend of November 15, when post–Prop. 8 rallies were planned at city halls and statehouses across the country, and she intended to attend the local demonstration with friends. She’d gone to marches in Los Angeles in the days immediately following the election, but no one paid much attention to her. Las Vegas was a different story, though. Just when Sykes thought the speeches were over and people were preparing to march, one of the event’s organizers announced, “There’s a rumor Wanda Sykes is out there.” So, as she’d done thousands of times before, Sykes jumped onto the stage. Only this time, she told no jokes and used no profanity.

“It was from the heart,” she says today of her speech. “I just said what I said; I don’t really talk about my sexual orientation. I wasn’t in the closet, but I was just living my life. Everybody who knows me personally knows I’m gay. And that’s the way people should be able to live their lives, really. We shouldn’t have to be standing out here demanding something we automatically should have as citizens of this country.” She ended the impromptu presentation with a statement of pride: “I’m proud to be a woman, I’m proud to be a black woman, and I’m proud to be gay. Let’s go get our damn equal rights.”

By the time she’d returned to her hotel room, news that Sykes had come out of the closet was on the CNN crawl. “I was like, Damn, whatever happened to ‘What happens in Vegas…?’”

It's a great profile, you should head on over to Advocate.com and read the whole thing now!

Wanda Sykes Appears on NBC's Tonight Show

Newly out comedienne Wanda Sykes appeared on NBC's Tonight Show with Jay Leno last night and discussed her coming out, opposition to Proposition 8 and the "Day Without A Gay" protest that was scheduled for yesterday. (Note the Join The Impact t-shirt Wanda is wearing. You go, girl!)

Wanda Sykes Joins EQCA Board of Directors

The face of gay activism?

Equality California just sent out a press release naming the new people who have recently joined their board of directors and it is a notably diverse group. Newly out Black gay comedienne Wanda Sykes, United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta, former Assemblymember Lloyd Levine are names people will recognize immediately.

The Equality California Board of Directors:

Cary Davidson (Los Angeles), President
Deb Kinney (San Francisco), Vice President
Xavier Barrera (San Francisco), Secretary
Tim Hohmeier (Palm Springs), Treasurer

Jim Abbott (San Diego)
Brandon Brawner (Los Angeles)
Betsy Butler (Los Angeles)
Larry Colton (San Francisco)
Joe Guardarrama* (Los Angeles)
Susan Guinn (San Diego)
Jeff Haber (Los Angeles)
Mariah Hansen (Palm Springs)
Dolores Huerta* (Bakersfield)
Rabbi Steven Jacobs* (Los Angeles)
Roslyn Jones (Riverside)
Lloyd Levine* (Los Angeles)
Rev. Abel Lopez* (Los Angeles)
Tom Maddox (San Diego)
Jimmy Nguyen (Los Angeles)
Jeff Orr (San Francisco)
Thom Rollerson* (Santa Barbara)
Sal Rosselli* (San Francisco)
Rick Saputo (Palm Springs)
Linda Scaparotti (San Francisco)
Kathy Spillar (Los Angeles)
Alan Uphold (Los Angeles)
Jacques Whitfield* (Sacramento)

The Equality California Institute Board of Directors:

Gary D. Soto (Palm Springs), President
Cathy Schwamberger (Sacramento), Vice President
Michael Martinez (Sacramento), Secretary
Randy Clark (San Diego), Treasurer

Gwyneth Borden (San Francisco)
Chris Carnes (San Francisco)
Jose Cisneros (San Francisco)
Jody Cole (Mendocino)
Troup Coronado (Los Angeles)
Ellen Evans* (Los Angeles)
Carrie Farrell (San Francisco)
Kelly Ferrero (Palm Springs)
Clarissa Filgioun* (Los Angeles)
Andrae Gonzalo* (Los Angeles)
Christopher Heritage* (Palm Springs)
Ben Patrick Johnson (Los Angeles)
Leslie Katz (San Francisco)
Martin Mendelson* (Orange County)
Shannon Minter (San Francisco)
Dennis Rasor (Orange County)
Stacy Smithers (Los Angeles)
Laura Spanjian (San Francisco)
Doug Spearman (Los Angeles)
Wanda Sykes* (Los Angeles)
Phil Ting (San Francisco)

*New Directors

MadProfessah was on the Board of Directors from 2002 to 2004 so I will explain that "Equality California Institute" is the 501(c)(3) non-profit "foundation" arm of the agency while "Equality California" is a 501(c)(4) organiztion to hwhom dibations are NOT tax-exempt. EQCA also has a PAC, which they can use to give politicians financial donations and endorse candidates running for elected office. EQCA does not endorse or donate any candidate who does believe in civil marriage rights for all people.

Wanda Sykes Comes Out!