Wanda Sykes at Las Vegas Rally: I'm Gay and I'm Pissed

Comedian Wanda Sykes came out publicly at a rally yesterday in Las Vegas.

Said Sykes: "I got married October 25th. My wife is here. I don't really talk about my sexual orientation, didn't think I had to. I was just livin my life. Not necessarily in the closet but I was just livin my life. Everybody that knows me personally, they know I'm gay. That's the way people should be able to live their lives really. If we had equal rights...we shouldn't have to be out here demanding something that we automatically should have as citizens of this country. But I got pissed off. They pissed me off. I said, you know, what I gotta get in your face. And that's what we have to do now. They have pissed off the wrong group of people!"

Image of Sykes by Towleroad reader Derek Washington. See more in our National Gallery of Marriage Equality photos from readers across the country.

Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...

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Reno, Nevada Stopped from Receiving Word that God Hates Them

The Westboro Baptist Church made a trip to Reno, Nevada to picket a soldier's funeral on January 26th but were effectively blocked by a group of counter-demonstrators. Watch the tensions rise as they are surrounded.

Good As You notes that Westboro is using this "news video" to show that police acted inappropropriately toward them. It may be that the "news video" itself is a piece of Westboro-created propaganda, since no one can seem to find a news reporter by the name of Frank Douglas in the Reno area.

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Burning Man Set Ablaze Early by "Attention Whore" Arsonist

The 40-ft Burning Man sculpture, normally set ablaze at the climactic moment in the Labor Day festival of the same name at Black Rock City in the Nevada desert, was lit by an arsonist early Tuesday morning, according to the San Francisco Chronicle:

"Paul Addis, 35, of San Francisco, was booked into the Pershing County Jail in Nevada on the arson charge and misdemeanor possession of fireworks, Sheriff Ron Skinner said. Festival organizers, meanwhile, pondered the smoldering remains of the Man and promised to rebuild the big guy in time for Saturday's regularly scheduled burn in the Black Rock Desert north of Reno."

40,000 are expected this weekend but some arrived early, according to the paper, to view last night's lunar eclipse. The annual burning of the sculpture is viewed as a symbolic cathartic event meant to represent the self-expression and art that are the festival's hallmark.

Said one volunteer to the Chronicle: "Someone went to a great extent to interfere with everyone else's burn. I think, frankly, an attention whore has made a plea for attention. In three days, we will have this rebuilt."

Burning Man's icon goes up in flames, 4 days prematurely [sf chronicle]
Burning Man Set on Fire Early Due to Arson [laughing squid]

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News: Gay Spring Break, Morrissey, Peru, Princess Diana

American Family Association unleashes attack dogs on Sears for running pro-gay ad on LOGO.

Guys Gone Wild: Gay Spring Break to get official welcome in Key West. Photo from Nathaniel Welch's Spring Broke available in our gift store...

USA was bugging Diana's phone on the night of her death, according to a report by former Metropolitan police commissioner Lord Stevens: "In a move that raises fresh questions over transatlantic agreements on intelligence-sharing, the surveillance arm of the US has admitted listening to her conversations as she stayed at the Ritz hotel, but failed to notify MI6. Stevens is understood to have been assured that the 39 classified documents detailing Diana's final conversations did not reveal anything sinister or contain material that might help explain her death."

University of Vermont suspends fraternity for anti-gay hazing: "Phi Gamma Delta is accused of serving drinks to underage students and making prospective members wear cowboy outfits while they were taunted with homophobic language during a party that had a theme based on the gay-themed movie 'Brokeback Mountain'."

Morrissey can still pack em in at Wembley.

Peru sees first same-sex union under auspices of British embassy: "Although the legal union between two adults of the same sex is not permitted in Peru, the couple was able to legally validate their partnership under British law. Peter Goad, a British citizen, and Marco Bretoneche, his Peruvian partner, both 42 years old, were wed last Thursday according to Mhol. 'Let this marriage serve as a precedent to Peru and let our union be recognized under the eyes of Peruvian law. We have the right to happiness, respect, and legal equality,' stated Bretoneche in a statement released by Mhol."

Lake Tahoe wants to see gays on the slopes, money in the bank.

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