Wanda Sykes: ‘People treated me like a unicorn when I came out’
US comedian Wanda Sykes has said she never meant to come out but when she did, she was treated like a unicorn because she is black and openly lesbian.
Wanda Sykes has revealed that she never meant to come out at a Prop 8 rally in 2008 but when she did, she was treated like a unicorn.
The comedian told The Meredith Show that she was called on stage by organisers as she had been vocal about her support for the anti Prop 8 campaign. She revealed that people treated her like a “unicorn” because, at the time, there were few out African-Americans.
She said: “It just came out. I had just gotten married. So instead of speaking as a supporter, I was speaking as one of the victims. It just happened. I didn’t even think about it… We continued with the rally and by the time I got to the hotel, I’m looking at the CNN scroll and it says, ‘Comedienne Wanda Sykes: I’m proud to be black and gay’ and whatever, I was like, ‘Oh lord. What the hell just happened?’ It was crazy.”
Sykes married her wife Alex Sykes in 2008 just before Proposition 8, the law that banned same-sex marriage in California, was passed.
Sykes revealed she was treated like a unicorn because she was a visible representative of the black LGBT community.
She said: “It was funny though, because especially being an African-American celebrity who’s out, it was like they started treating me like a unicorn. We’ve never seen one of you before! It’s like me and RuPaul. I guess that’s it.”
Sykes and her wife became parents to twins, a boy and a girl, a year after their marriage.
