Margaret Cho has long been a thorn in the side of Republicans stateside. But never like the summer of 2004 when one day, 10 minutes into her performance at a corporate gig, the hotel manager - offended by her anti-Bush comments - had her microphone cut off and instructed the band to begin playing.
That same summer, even Democrats - gay Democrats, no less - whupped Cho upside the head when she was "uninvited" to perform at the Unity 2004 event during the Democratic national convention, a pink power event organized by the gay-rights lobby groups Human Rights Campaign and National Stonewall Democrats.

"It just shows how sometimes Democrats don't know what they're doing," Cho says today. "They don't know how to stand their ground and I think that's really offensive. But I did get an apology and a lot of people got fired."

So I guess Cho got the last laugh.

These days, though, a slimmed-down and happily married Cho has discovered burlesque in L.A. where she now lives with her husband.

"What's bugging me is I can't tour my girl burlesque show to Montreal, but I'll be in Fire Island next week, and my burlesque show is popular here in Los Angeles where our next monthly benefit is for the California Center for LGBT Homeless Youth."

Cho doing burlesque?

"Yeah! I've been a fan of it for years! I do comedy in the show too. I think it's drag for women. I do it myself - it's shocking for gay men to see my breasts!"

Despite her newfound figure, the fat little girl inside Cho won't go away.

"I think I'll always feel awkward," Cho admits. "But that's okay because it's supposed to be there. It's comforting. There's good things that came out of that, like my brassy sense of humour."

About George Bush ("I wish they would impeach him") and hurricane Katrina, Cho quips, "It's so sickening how America doesn't take care of its poor people."

About Rush Limbaugh getting busted upon his return from the Dominican Republic for vacationing with somebody else's prescription Viagra, Cho snaps, "I wonder if he's doing it with Special K at parties, because those are the only people who use it without prescriptions."

When she's not doing benefits for New Orleans or homeless LGBT youth, Cho is shopping in London, Sydney and - yes - Toronto. "I like the whole Bloor Street situation," Cho says, admitting she's become something of a fashion-holic.

But, unlike Montreal, which boasts Boutique Mad-Ame (1276 Amherst), Toronto does not have a lesbian fashion boutique.

"They don't even have one in San Francisco," Cho sighs. "But I love lesbian fashion. It's not just plaid shirts any more. It's Red Wing shoes. It goes way beyond cutting edge. The most fashionable people I know are lesbians."

Which reminds me, when was the last time Cho went down on a woman?

Cho laughs. "I'm married [to a man] for three years, so I haven't gone down on a woman in three years - since my hen night!"

If you think children are next, think again. "I don't want to have a Liza Minnelli!"

Married or not, Cho says she still has a "deep love for the gay community I still feel a part of." In Montreal, the love is mutual.