Biden invites drag queen to White House for bill signing
Heather Hamilton
Video Embed
The Biden administration has invited a New York City drag queen to the White House for a bill signing ceremony Tuesday.
Marti Cummings, a biological male who identifies as nonbinary, shared the invitation for the signing of the Respect for Marriage Act, a bill that canonizes gay and interracial marriage in federal law.
“To be a non-binary drag artist invited to the White House is something I never imagined would happen,” Cummings wrote on Twitter before the tweet was hidden. “Thank you President & Dr. [Jill] Biden for inviting me to this historic bill signing. Grateful doesn’t begin to express the emotions I feel.”
‘WISH HIM WELL’: GAC’S DANICA MCKELLAR SUPPORTS CANDACE CAMERON BURE AMID NEAL BLEDSOE CRITICISM
The bill passed with the support of 39 House Republicans joining House Democrats. Twelve Republicans also voted for the legislation in the Senate following the addition of an amendment ensuring religious liberty protections for nonprofit religious organizations against requirements that would force them to provide services or goods to same-sex couples or marriages.
Ahead of the ceremony, President Joe Biden praised Congress for passing the bill, saying it ensures “LGBTQ+ youth will grow up knowing that they can lead full, happy lives and build families of their own.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, the first openly gay black woman to hold the position, touted the signing ceremony as a bipartisan celebration with musical performances before “thousands of people” on the South Lawn, including “lawmakers, as well as advocates and plaintiffs in marriage equality cases across the country.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The legislation replaces previous provisions legally defining marriage as being between a man and a woman aside from individual state law. The bill also requires states to recognize other states’ same-sex marriages.