Marti G. Cummings, a drag queen whom President Joe Biden invited to attend the signing of the Respect for Marriage Act at the White House, once performed for a 2-year-old boy.
Administration officials invited hundreds of LGBTQ activists to the White House on Tuesday as the commander-in-chief signed the legislation, which enshrines same-sex marriage protections into federal law in accordance with the Supreme Court’s opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges. Cummings, who shared a picture of his invitation on social media and said he was “grateful” to receive the overture, has a long history of activism, according to a report from the Daily Signal.
One video of Cummings singing the children’s song “Baby Shark” to a toddler went viral three years ago. Footage showed Cummings, donned in a wig, high-heeled boots, and a leotard tightly hugging his genitals, clapping along with the tune, at one point spinning onto a long table and briefly drawing attention to his nether regions. A man who appeared to be the boy’s father was smiling, bouncing the child on his knees, and recording the interaction while grinning from ear to ear.
“It was just a very quick kind of organic moment during the performance. He was so sweet, and he gave me a dollar,” Cummings told Inside Edition. “Obviously going to like a late-night drag show is not appropriate for a kid, but a family-friendly drag brunch is totally cool.”
Cummings recently mounted an unsuccessful campaign for the New York City Council, remarking in the magazine Out that he desires to “not only be a drag queen who’s funny, silly, and entertaining, but somebody who took that platform and used it for something bigger.” Cummings also conducts activism on behalf of the “queer youth population” in New York City.
“I also think we need young people at the table. We need new, fresh voices,” he told the outlet. “We have a lot of queer elected officials now, but we need really, really progressive queer candidates. We need candidates who are going to take us to that next level. New York politics for a long time has been dynasty politics, and we should bring some new people to the table because politics should be open to everybody.”
The signing of the Respect for Marriage Act was witnessed by thousands of people on the South Lawn of the White House; the ceremony featured music from “nonbinary” singer Sam Smith and musician Cyndi Lauper. Biden invited several drag queens to attend the ceremony.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) remarked in a statement that he voted against a motion to advance the bill because its “religious liberty protections” were “severely anemic and largely illusory.” Biden nevertheless praised the final passage of the Respect for Marriage Act, saying that “millions of marriages and families” have been put at ease following the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade and other previous opinions purporting a constitutional right to abortion.
