BY EMILY GILMORE

Being a bisexual Korean-American woman, comedian Margaret Cho is a member of a lot of different minorities.

It used to be "sort of crushing, sort of an unbearable weight," Cho said in a phone interview last week, but now she has grown into her identities, and she's proud of them.

And her life experience, coupled with her daring, take-no-prisoners attitude, is what makes her comedy act so bold and refreshingly honest.

"I can talk about these things with conviction and authority, so I'm freed a lot by my identity," she said.

A longtime activist, Cho is hosting the True Colors concert tour, which is the brainchild of pop star Cyndi Lauper. She organized the tour to benefit the gay community, which has supported her strongly throughout her career.

"As an American, I was raised to believe that all people have the right to live with the same dignity, opportunity and safety," Lauper said in a press release. " This tour was created to celebrate our differences by raising awareness for liberty, fairness and dignity for everyone--not just some of us."

The tour kicked off in Las Vegas last week and will stop at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md., on Sunday.

As host, Cho will perform stand-up between such acts as Lauper, Erasure, Debbie Harry, The Dresden Dolls, The Gossip and The Misshapes. Rosie O'Donnell will make appearances in select cities, as will Rufus Wainwright, who is slated for the Merriweather Post show.

One dollar from every ticket sold will benefit the Human Rights Campaign, an organization that advocates for equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans. The Matthew Shepard Foundation, PFLAG and the television network Logo also are among the tour's partners.

Cho has always had a huge gay following. She is married to a man, but identifies as bisexual. She wholeheartedly considers herself part of the gay community, though, describing herself as "as colorful and queer as it gets" in a press release for the tour.

The gay community "is really my home," Cho said by phone. " It's where I am social and where I am very active politically, and it's where my friends are and where my whole life is. It's very beautiful and it's important to me, so it's just a natural part of my life."

She has been an outspoken activist for a long time, using humor to make her audiences think while they laugh until they cry.

"I'm just driven by a need to protect myself" and to protect friends and family as well, Cho said.

Activism also creates camaraderie and hope, she said. "That's why I love this tour--because it allows us to come together and enjoy the music and enjoy ourselves, and it's beautiful."

After the True Colors tour wraps up at the end of the month, Cho will have her hands full. She's shooting music videos for a number of musicians (check out her previous video work on You Tube). Her variety show, "The Sensuous Woman," currently runs monthly in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and she plans to take it to Chicago and New York later this year. In addition, she's developing material for a new tour of her own that will start next year.

Cho also directed the short film "Two Sisters," which just finished shooting and will be out next year. And the full-length film "Bam Bam and Celeste," which Cho wrote, produced and stars in, will be released in August.

Some people might find it difficult to keep their heads on straight amid so much activity, but Cho is having so much fun that it's not an issue.

The True Colors tour will be challenging, she admits, because of its extent and because of all the traveling. But it's worth it to unite with the other acts for a common cause that is so important to her.

"That's incredible, too, that everybody is about what's happening, and you have all these gay icons touring in support of gay rights," she said. " They've created something really extraordinary and beautiful."