• She didn’t ask, she didn’t tell, but she still got booted. Thanks Rapid City police. If you need another reason to despise Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, then look at the case of former Air Force sergeant Jene Newsome.  The good constables of Rapid City, South Dakota were looking for Cheryl Hutson, who shared a home with Newsome. Hutson couldn’t be located so Newsome was called at work. When she got back to the house, Hutson was there with the police. The ex-sergeant wasn’t part of the complaint nor a suspect; however, the officers saw an Iowa marriage certificate in the kitchen and thought this was worth reporting to  Newsome’s bosses. You can predict the rest. “It’s an emotional issue and it’s unfortunate that Newsome lost her job, but I disagree with the notion that our department might be expected to ignore the license, or not document the license, or withhold it from the Air Force once we did know about it,”  police Chief Steve Allender said in a statement. “It was a part of the case, part of the report and the Air Force was privileged to the information.” “It was part of the case….” Yeah, right chief. If you insist.

• Stars on Ice adores Johnny Weir…as long as he not skating for Stars on Ice. Contradicting what  GLAAD reported last week, Stars on Ice announced they love them some Johnny Weir and all he has done for ice skating. However, he still isn’t going to perform in their show. “Please be assured that the ‘gender identity and sexual’ orientation of cast members has never been a consideration in the selection of tour performers.” Do you trust Stars on Ice?

• Saturday Night Live takes on Massa. Eric Massa should be proud. His flame out made Saturday Night Live. Check out special guest  Jerry Seinfeld in  segment called “Really!?! With Seth and Jerry.”  My favorite line: ” If you are going to sexually harass people under  you, dude don’t trademark it.”

• March Madness is here and I’m  blue: College hoops is entering its final lap for the season. University of Connecticut women have stomped  every challenger. The UNC men, loves Carolin blue, barely made it into the NIT. While my Tar Heels will not be in the big dance, I’m still excited about the tournament. Anyone got a favorite team? Right now I’m all about Temple, Butler, UTEP, and Gonzaga.

• GLAAD Awards. This weekend GLAAD held an award show in NYC. Good to see the cast of Hair got honored. A few of you were nasty little prigs when the cast announced it was canceling a performance to attend this past October’s equality rally. Praise the heavens that opinion didn’t carry much weight.

• Wanda Sykes invites Constance McMillen to LA. Funny lady Sykes had Constance McMillen on her show this weekend. The high school senior got an invite from Sykes to come to LA  in April to participate in the GLAAD awards. Hopefully the trip will make up for all the prom drama.

Wanda Sykes’ weekly Fox comedy show debuts 11 p.m. EST Saturday, followed by George Lopez’s four-night-a-week talk show on TBS, starting 11 p.m. EST Monday. They join “The Mo’Nique Show” on BET.

Lopez is counting on an audience hungry for something different – as in the first Hispanic to host a nighttime talk show on a major network, cable or broadcast.

Sykes is the first black late-night host since the late 1990s, when celebrities Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Keenan Ivory Wayans tried and failed to follow in Arsenio Hall’s successful 1989-94 footsteps.

“There’s a huge percentage of people not watching late-night TV at all,” Lopez said, figuring that the shows headlined by hosts including David Letterman, Conan O’Brien and Jimmy Kimmel draw from roughly the same audience pool.

For people of color, the actor and comedian said, “I don’t think a lot of their needs are met with the current talk shows. I would pull a different audience.”

Shari Anne Brill, an analyst with media-buyer Carat USA in New York, echoes Lopez’s assertion.

“There is a huge, growing multicultural population in this country, and the current late-night fare doesn’t really take them into account,” she said.

But neither Lopez nor Sykes are talking about practicing exclusionary TV. Lopez’s ABC sitcom drew a cross-section of viewers, and Sykes said she expects her show to attract the same mixed crowd she gets at her standup appearances.

“Young, old, male, female, all races, gay, straight. I love the audience that I draw,” Sykes said.

She rebuts the idea she got the job because of her gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation (the actress-comedian, who appears on CBS’ “The New Adventures of Old Christine,” came out as gay in 2008).

“I do understand the importance of being on a late-night talk show as a black, gay woman. But I’ve been at this for 20 years. I don’t think they (networks) were saying, `Hey, it would be fun to get a black woman on late-night. Who fits that role?’

“I got this show in spite of being a black lesbian,” she said, adding that viewers will tune in to see her or Lopez and not a type.

“It’s all driven by the host. It’s not what you’re getting from a minority, it’s us,” Sykes said.

She doesn’t see an “Obama effect” in the sudden late-night diversity, given that she was approached before the election of the first African-American U.S. president. But Lopez said his interest was piqued as he campaigned for the Democratic candidate.

“Being with Barack for a year and seeing the people and how their eyes and their faces filled with hope for him, for this country … and, on a very smaller scale, to have a show that is fun and can galvanize people and bring them together” was appealing, he said.

The two shows, as sketched by their hosts, will take different approaches.

Lopez promises to bring “the party back to late-night,” signaling a looser, hipper hour in the tradition of “The Arsenio Hall Show,” said analyst Bill Carroll of media buyer Katz Television in New York. Sykes is planning Bill Maher-type panels with both lighthearted and serious discussion of politics and culture as part of her mix.

“In some ways, these shows are looking at breaking the mold,” Carroll said. “Lopez Tonight,” he suggests, could be “what late-night might look like in the future.”

Sykes, whose show replaces Fox’s “Mad TV,” could compete successfully in her partial overlap with NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” analyst Brill said. “Viewers could watch her show and then switch to `SNL’ in time for the news, which is the only part that’s funny anyway.”

Eva Longoria-Parker, Ellen DeGeneres and Los Angeles Lakers basketball star Kobe Bryant are the scheduled debut night guests for Lopez. Sykes will welcome Mary Lynn Rajskub of “24,” Daryl “Chill” Mitchell of “Brothers” and “The Amazing Race” host Phil Keoghan.

John Ridley, head writer for Sykes, said he’s wary of asserting that the show will “blow apart” the late-night model.

“If you look at all the shows, they’re not different. Are we going to have a monologue? Absolutely. Guests? Yes. A panel? Yes. But it reflects Wanda’s sensibility,” he said.

And that, it’s safe to say, is not akin to what Carroll calls the “predominantly middle-aged – to be kind – white men” that have long dominated late-night.

1. Yes Gavin Newsom is a hero when it comes to marriage equality, but did anyone really think he had a shot leading California?

2. The New York 23rd District special election is nutty, confusing, and has turned into a battle ground for national GOP politics. You know it’s bad when  “G.O.P. Stalinists” appears in a subject heading. Nate Silver crunches the numbers and even he isn’t sure who is going to win.

3. Here in NYC, I’m not sure anyone realizes there is a race for mayor. Looks like it’s going to be an easy night  for Michael Bloomberg.

4. Queerty announces The Advocate is dead. The Advocate says not so fast. Could be the truth is somewhere in the middle. Essentially the changing media landscape impacts gay news but I’m not sure people realize that.

5. Are American runners ready to compete again in the marathon?

6. Has god created a sports fan with more arrogance and hubris than those who root for the Yankees?

7. One more Silver shout out. He looks at Maine and thinks team Yes is  a 5-2 underdog. What do our Maine readers say?

8. Anyone watch Wanda Sykes’ new show?

9. Reason 336 why I love this country: some child gets sent home for wearing blackface and lovers of minstrelsy will quickly throw out the PC charge!

10. Will someone please explain why the love life of Anderson Cooper is of any interest.

This may be the best-week-ever  for Sykes who recently headlined  a-la-Stephen Colbert at the White House Correpsondent’s Dinner. Here she is with some sex -ed advice for fellow baby-boomer  and former Vice Presidential hopeful Sarah Palin.

It seems like there has been as much news about LGBT issues on TMZ as there has been in the New York Times. At least if you take the view that what happens in the entertainment industry is relevant to the political struggle for equality.

I happen to subscribe to that view.

I think that Shanna Moakler’s resignation over the ridiculous actions and offensive speech given by Carrie Prejean on Tuesday marks an important step towards equality. I also think that the announcement today that Wanda Sykes’s wife has given birth to twins presents an important opportunity to get the notion of loving, stable, LGBT families out into the American mainstream.

I was watching Ellen at the gym the other day (she makes me laugh while I run which somehow makes running seem not quite as bad as it really is). There was an adorable segment about her and Portia trying out a new game for the show. Portia cheats, Ellen falls over and they both end up cracking up on their back lawn.

The functional display of LGBT couples on television – like Ellen and Portia – is essential if we want popular culture to support the recognition of our relationships.

But Ellen and Portia are animal obsessed, fairly apolitical and childless. Ellen, especially, talks more about kittens than equal rights.

Wanda Sykes, on the other hand, has appeared in commercials supporting equality aimed at teenagers, often addresses LGBT issues in her comedy routines and gave a brilliantly political presentation at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

Now she is the mother of twins, is in a stable relationship and is all over the entertainment news.

This is part of the struggle, and it’s publicity we need. Congratulations to Ms. Sykes and thanks for keeping the image of LGBT families in the mainstream media.

1. RIP Chuck Daly.

2. If I were a Republican, I would ask Dick Cheney to follow the example of his former boss: sit down and shut up.

3. Is it wrong to be attracted to the new Kirk and Spock, even though I haven’t seen the film yet? Don’t worry Beau. You are still my first, but you never call. I’m only human.

4. Short drunk queens never apologize when they step on my feet at the bar.

5. Wanda Sykes’ joke about Lady Gaga bombed at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

6. Swine flu, the economy, and Pakistan. I’m not leaving the house!

7. Mirrors are the tools of Satan.

8. Anyone read the new biography of Booker T. Washington?

9. Have no interest in the new film Outrage. The whole premise seems rather 1990’s-ish.

10. Radio ninny Michael Savage is a petulant little man who can’t stand when his “ideas” are critiqued. With that said, free speech is absolute (within reason of course) and applies to clowns like Savage.

The comic actress said Thursday that she has been selected as the entertainer at the annual White House correspondents’ dinner in Washington, slated for May 9.

Obama is expected to attend the black-tie affair at the Washington Hilton. 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. senator Tom Daschle from Obama’s cabinet due to unpaid taxes.

Sykes, who booked the gig this week, said the idea of performing for such a high-profile crowd is “scary but very exciting.”

She said it’s her job to “poke fun and ridicule,” and even a popular figure like Obama isn’t off limits. She already has some ideas about what she could mine for laughs. For example, she noted, Obama can be “a little long-winded. So we can get him on that.”

Sykes, 44, has established a comic identity around her blunt, feisty personality. 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.”

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 expects fumbles in the Obama administration between now and the correspondents’ dinner.

“I’m not rooting against him at all, because, especially in this economy and everything, we need him to succeed,” she says. “But there’s gonna be some incidents and missteps, like we saw with the whole tax thing.”

Comedian and actress Wanda Sykes officially came out this weekend, announcing to the estimated crowd of 1,000 gathered in Las Vegas at one of the many rallies for gay rights taking place around the country on Saturday that she’s gay, and that she legally married her wife in California on Oct. 25.

Sykes (who divorced her husband of seven years in 1998), has spoken out about gay rights issues many times in the past, recently participated in a campaign to fight anti-gay slurs, and has openly referred to her wife in some of her stand-up routines.

But she has always declined to specifically discuss her sexual orientation publicly — until now.

“I don’t really talk about my sexual orientation," she told the crowd at the Las Vegas GLBT Community Center. "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."

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

But the passage of Proposition 8, she told them, spurred her decision to officially come out. “ We took a huge leap forward and then got dragged 12 feet back. I felt like I was being attacked, personally attacked — our community was attacked."

“Now, I gotta get in their face," she continued. "I’m proud to be a woman. I’m proud to be a black woman, and I’m proud to be gay.”

Sykes joins WNBA player Sheryl Swoopes as one of the few high-profile black women in America who have publicly come out as a lesbian or bisexual woman.

Just before the Nov. 4 election, Sykes talked about homophobia within the black community on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, acknowledging there are differences between the black civil rights movement and the gay civil rights movement, but saying, "discrimination is discrimination, and of all people, black people should know about discrimination."

Currently co-starring with Julia Louis-Dreyfus in the CBS comedy The New Adventures of Old Christine, Sykes — along with Jasika Nicole on the Fox sci-fi drama Fringe, and Kristen Vangsness on the CBS crime drama Criminal Minds — is one of the few out actresses currently playing a leading or supporting role on primetime broadcast television.

She and her wife are among the 18,000 gay and lesbian couples who married during the four months same-sex marriage was legal in California, including many lesbian couples in the entertainment industry.

Sykes said in her speech that she believes passing Proposition 8 will ultimately backfire on those who are against gay marriage.

"They pissed off the wrong group of people," she told the crowd. "They have galvanized a community. We are so together now and we all want the same thing and we shouldn’t have to settle for less. Instead of having gay marriage in California, no, we’re gonna have gay marriage across the country."

Read more of Wanda’s speech or
listen to it here (note: audio will begin to play)