From her beginnings as a 16-year-old comedian and the star of the short-lived sitcom All-American Girl, Margaret Cho’s career has soared with such gut- busting comedy shows as "I’m the One That I Want" and stand-up concert tours like "Beautiful" (her fifth).

Her new music/stand-up album Guitarded (yes, she sings, too) will hit stores in 2010, and the Lifetime network just picked up her pilot Drop Dead Diva, a show about women’s relationships with their bodies. Clearly, Cho, this issue’s cover model, gets around — in a good way, of course.

While she makes us laugh as an award-winning Korean American comedian, her activism in the Asian American and gay communities is nothing to scoff at.

"For me, the main focus is repealing Proposition 8," says Cho, a San Francisco native, says about the California law that forbids gay marriage. "The response to Proposition 8 has been really tremendous. I am thrilled that this movement has grown over the years. I am amazed to get as far as we have."

Even so, Cho is aware that the ban on gay marriage still finds support among many Asian Americans. "Homophobia is very present within the Asian community, [though] it’s more with the older generation," Cho says. "It’s really something that has to be fought."

We had the chance to talk with Cho about activism, the progress of Asian Americans in media and how it doesn’t hurt to be self-righteous every now and then.