Sykes, who had not discussed her sexual orientation publicly, chose to share the news with more than 1,000 people at a rally outside a Las Vegas community center because of her concern about the recent passage of a referendum that outlawed same-sex marriage in California.

“I felt like I was being attacked, personally attacked — our community was attacked,” she reportedly told the crowd, according to an account in Sunday’s New York Times.

The measure, known as Proposition 8, was passed on November 4 by California voters, sparking an outcry from gay and lesbian activists who have taken to the streets and the airwaves in protest. The new law only recognizes marriages between a man and a woman and may invalidate thousands of marriages performed in California during the months when the practice was legal in the state.

Sykes, who reportedly divorced her husband of seven years in 1998, said she married her wife on October 25.

“You know, I don’t really talk about my sexual orientation. 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,” Sykes reportedly told the crowd, according to an account by the Associated Press.

Sykes, 44, said her sexual orientation was well known among her friends even if she hadn’t spoken about it with her fans. “Everybody that knows me personally they know I’m gay. But that’s the way people should be able to live their lives,” she said. “Now, I gotta get in their face.”

After weeks of bitter protest that seemed to pit some gay activists against blacks who supported Prop. 8, Sykes appeared to bridge the divide. “I’m proud to be a woman. I’m proud to be a black woman, and I’m proud to be gay,” she said, according to AP.

Even before she came out publicly, Sykes has been outspoken in her support of same-sex marriage and has posted a video from her comedy routine on the subject on her web site. “Government shouldn’t be involved in this,” she says in the video. “It’s very simple. If you don’t believe in same sex marriage, then don’t marry somebody of the same sex.”

By coming out, Sykes instantly became one of the most visible African American public figures in support of same-sex marriage. The Emmy Award-winning performer recently appeared in the feature film Evan Almighty, the sequel to Bruce Almighty, and his starred in numerous other films and television series. She’s also the author of a book called Yeah, I Said It, published by Simon and Schuster in September 2004.