The infamous Miley Cyrus portrait might be the talk of 2008, but Vanity Fair has produced so many other photographs this year that are way more worthy of discussion. The magazine recently compiled an online portfolio of their favorites from this year, and I have to say that I am thankful for photographers like Annie Leibovitz, whose contributions to celebrity photography bring out the best in some of our favorite women (and the controversy in the aforementioned Disney teen starlet).

Kate Winslet posed as lesbionic icon Catherine Deneuve? Magic. Also, please notice that she is unclothed. I knew I'd have to point that out to you.

Who cares about Robert Pattinson when Twilight co-stars/BFFs Kristen Stewart and Nikki Reed are only interested in making eyes at each other while being photographed? They are the center of attention. … continue reading

Last night on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Wanda Sykes made her first appearance on the show since publicly coming out as gay and married in November.

After Leno announced her name, she took her sweet time coming to the stage. Once there, she explained that she was "calling in gay" and giving Leno and the audience "a little taste of what it would be like if I didn't show up."

This was a nod to December 10 being International Human Rights Day and "Day Without A Gay," in which LGBT people were encouraged to stay home from work and donate their time to gay rights service instead.

Clad in a t-shirt bearing a rainbow-colored fist, Sykes joked with Leno about her impromptu public coming out at a Prop 8 rally in Las Vegas ("so much for 'what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!'") and thanked him for always being "supportive and respectful" of her sexuality. They also talked about the ridiculousness of the idea that "gay rights" are "special rights."

You can likely find the episode posted in its entirety tomorrow on hulu.com's Tonight Show page, but, for now, watch a clip from the show below:

As funny as her appearance was, the clip above ends on a low-note as far as I'm concerned. Wanda's comment about how Prop 8 was based on the paranoid notion that gay marriages could affect heterosexual marriages devolved into a tired bit by the gay-friendly Leno about how lesbian sex is titillating for men. … continue reading

Out actress and comedian Wanda Sykes will appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno tonight on NBC. Of course, she'll probably be promoting her television show, The New Adventures of Old Christine, but she and Leno might just have a few other things to talk about.

After all, it's the first time Sykes has been a guest on the show again since she came out as a married lesbian in November during a gay rights rally in Las Vegas. At the rally, she told the crowd that she felt "attacked" by the passage of Proposition 8, and declared, "I'm proud to be a woman. I'm proud to be a black woman, and I'm proud to be gay."

In previous appearances on The Tonight Show, Sykes talked around issues like gay marriage, but did so without naming herself a lesbian (though Sykes has long been out in her live stand-up performances). Now that she's out, it's safe to say she'll be a target for the same boring questions about domestic life that Leno would ask any of his other guests.

Here's a clip of Sykes's last appearance on the show back in September of this year, in which she talks about the (then) upcoming presidential election:

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How often do you get to hear any woman declare herself a feminist on television? And I love the idea of Wanda Sykes as Secretary of State. If Obama hadn't already picked the right woman for the job, I would forward him the Leno clip for consideration.

Watch Sykes on Leno tonight at 11:35 p.m. EST.

Each year, The Advocate names its People of the Year, “a handful of names that made headlines, made a difference, or simply made us talk.” They just released a couple of names as a teaser and one of them is actress and comedian Wanda Sykes.

Sykes has always been an outspoken supporter of gay rights. Having previously kept her sexuality private, Sykes came out at a rally in Las Vegas after California Proposition 8 was passed.

She cited the passing of Proposition 8 as the catalyst behind her decision to 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. I'm proud to be a woman. I'm proud to be a black woman, and I'm proud to be gay.

It is a refreshing sign that not all magazines that tout themselves as serving the gay and — ahem — lesbian community have been suffering from a cognitive disconnect. … continue reading

There have been more than the usual number of out lesbians on NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in the last few weeks. And by "more than usual" I mean three (that's a 300% increase from zero, the average of most talk shows that aren't actually hosted by a lesbian). So I thought I'd bring you a round-up of their interviews, for your weekend enjoyment.

Last night, Rachel Maddow was on The Tonight Show talking about politics and the presidential election, and looking very, very gay — and I mean that in a good way (watch her segment of the episode here).

Two weeks ago, Ellen DeGeneres was on, talking about gay marriage, the importance of voting against California's Prop. 8, and ... hitting Julia Louis Dreyfus with a rock. Here's a clip of that (watch the full episode here): … continue reading

It is a truth universally acknowledged that lesbians love funny women. So when this week's Rolling Stone showed up at Scientistics headquarters, we were beside ourselves with merriment, because Tina Fey, Sarah Silverman and Amy Poehler all made the cover (front, back and pullout) of the golden age of comedy issue.

Inside the magazine were loads more of our favorites: Mindy Kaling, Margaret Cho, Wanda Sykes, Phyllis Diller and Julia Louis-Dreyfus — an all-star comedy list!

We couldn't help but notice that the funny guys got lots more coverage that the funny gals. How much more, you ask?

We didn't dwell on that, though, because there was research to be done. Below we've condensed the content to help us determine which woman is funniest. … continue reading

NBC has unofficially announced the new Late Night host to succeed Conan O'Brien in 2009, and (surprise) it's not a woman. Jimmy Fallon has signed on to be O'Brien's replacement, while Conan will move up to 11:35 p.m. to replace Jay Leno, whose contract is expiring. Looks like this means NBC will be continuing the grand tradition of male hosts in their late-night lineup. Now if you would all grab your calculators, let's see what this brings our tally of females currently in late-night TV to: One.

That honor goes to Chelsea Handler, who has a 30-minute talk show on E!.

Handler is the only woman in television to host a night-time talk show at this time. A rare honor, Handler joins a very short list alongside Joan Rivers as being the only female comics to host a late-night show. If we take out our trusty calculators again and add these figures together, that brings our grand total to two female late-night talk show hosts. Ever. In the history of television. Two.

For whatever reason, networks seem to think that women are more funny to more people when the sun is out. Rosie O'Donnell and Ellen DeGeneres have both won multiple Emmy awards for their daytime talk shows and have an enormous audience base stretching across all demographics, yet their shows never air before dinner time. … continue reading

We recently told you about Ellen DeGeneres' schooling of Oklahoma state representative Sally Kern on her show. But that wasn't the half of it. Ellen's guests that day included Wanda Sykes and Danny Noriega (American Idol), so it felt like the gayest show ever. (No, Wanda is not necessarily gay. Or at least not out. No comment.)

Anyway, here's a clip of Wanda on that episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show. She talks about everything from Sally Kern to Obama vs. Hillary to how you know you're getting old:

And if that's not enough to make your day, here's a snippet of one of Wanda's stand-up acts (thanks for the tip, Beth!) — the audio is out of sync, but it's still funny: … continue reading