Cumming: Support LGBT with laws

Alan Cumming stars as the political maverick Eli Gold on the hit CBS series “The Good Wife,” for which he has received two Emmy nominations. 

Trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Cumming has won numerous awards for his live theater roles, including a Tony for his performance in “Cabaret” on Broadway.

Cumming made his feature film debut in Ian Sellar’s “Prague,” which premiered at Cannes in 1992. He was introduced to American audiences in “Circle of Friends,” followed shortly by “Goldeneye” and “Emma.” He went on to shoot “Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion,” “X2: X Men United,” the “Spy Kids” trilogy, “Son of the Mask,” “Burlesque” and several independent films including “Urbania, Titus” and “Sweet Land” (which he also produced). 

Cumming is a true Renaissance man, with a musical career that has spanned the globe, including performances at the Sydney Opera House and a critically acclaimed duet recording with Liza Minnelli; he is also the author of the New York Times best-selling novel Sunday Times, creator of an award-winning signature fragrance and host of PBS’s “Masterpiece Mystery.”

Cumming’s activism and passion for causes such as LGBT rights, sex education and genital integrity have earned him many humanitarian awards from the LGBT Task Force, the Human Rights Campaign, the Trevor Project, Lambda Legal, the Point Foundation and GLAAD’s Vito Russo Media Award. He lives in New York City with his husband, Grant Shaffer, and their dogs, Honey and Leon.

Cumming stars in the upcoming film “Any Day Now,” in which he portrays a gay man fighting to keep custody of an abandoned, mentally handicapped teenager. “Any Day Now” open in select theaters this Friday, Dec. 14. 

ROBIN BRONK: If you had five minutes in the Oval Office with President Obama, what would you discuss with him? What issue would you like him to know about?

ALAN CUMMING: I would like to talk to him about his thoughts on how quickly he can implement the support he has shown for LGBT equality into legislation. But actually, if I had five minutes with him, I think I would rather shoot the breeze, ’cause I think he’s great.

RB: If you could ask the president to make one issue a priority for the first 90 days of his second term, what would it be?

AC: See above. Hopefully, he is going to be pretty busy stopping those Republicans from pushing him off the fiscal cliff. 

RB: What piece of advice would you give President Obama as he settles into his second term in office?

AC: KICK ASS, BARACK! You did your bit with the reaching-across-the-aisle thing, and the door was shut in your face — all of our faces, actually. No more Mr. Nice Guy. 

RB: If you were going to send the president to one of your favorite places in the United States for one day, where would that be? Why?

AC: It would be to my apartment. So we can have dinner and a good ol’ chat. 

RB: What CD/piece of music would you recommend that the president add to his collection? Why?

AC: I would recommend he make his own CD … maybe an album of soul covers? 

RB: Would you ever consider a political career?

AC: I have a political career. I’m a human being and a voter, and I am engaged in politics every day of my life. We all are. I don’t think you can live without being political. 

Robin Bronk is CEO of The Creative Coalition — the leading national, nonprofit, nonpartisan public advocacy organization of the entertainment industry. Bronk is a frequent speaker on the role of the entertainment industry in public advocacy campaigns and represents The Creative Coalition and its legislative agenda before members of Congress and the White House. She produced the feature film “Poliwood,” airing on Showtime, and edited the recently published book Art & Soul. Bronk pens this weekly column with assistance from Risa Kotek.