- The story of George Santos doing drag
is not that he did drag.
If he wants to do drag, work.
Do it because drag is amazing.
Drag is an incredible art form.
The focus of the story should be that
he is directly aligning himself
with people who are supporting laws that will criminalize drag.
- As voters continue to grapple with George Santos'
lack of honesty about his past, his political views
and the way they seem to contrast with his life
are coming into view.
Drag isn't a crime,
but some of Santos' colleagues think otherwise
and are working hard to make it so.
- They say they're the party of life and of God,
but what life are they saving when they're prioritizing guns
over saving kids in schools
or people at the movie theatre of going shopping.
When you're banning books, when you're banning affirming
healthcare for trans people and trans kids,
you are not the party of life.
You are the party of Fascism, deceit,
and going against everything you say your God preaches.
- Marti Gould Cummings is a New York drag queen, activist,
and former candidate for the New York City council
in the seventh district.
George Santos is a hypocrite.
As somebody who claims to be openly gay,
they are directly voting against their own interest
and the interest of the community
that they so desperately want to be a part of.
- Let's talk real quick about the Florida bill,
"Don't Say Gay."
I stand proudly behind the Florida legislature
for putting a decent bill that will protect values.
- Since the start of 2023, over 300 anti-LGBTQ bills
have been introduced across the nation.
At least 14 states have introduced bills
looking to prohibit or restrict drag
shows with minors in the audience.
The protest against the family-friendly drag events
grew as right wing extremists and some politicians
asserted that drag queens groom children.
A line of attack seen by some as a way
to undermine gay rights more broadly.
- Not only is it a hypocrisy, it's harmful.
That's the fact of the matter there.
It's harmful to the queer community
because he is literally voting for and supporting bills
that are harming the community that he supposedly belongs to.
- Maebe A Girl is a drag queen from California
serving as representative at large
for the Silver Lake neighborhood council in LA.
In 2022, Maebe ran against Adam Schiff
for the US House of Representatives,
finishing second in the primary.
- And when you have folks who are lying about,
you know, being a drag queen, it shows that they have shame
being a member of the LQBTQIA community.
And what happens is that translates
to all of Santos' constituents
and to people following this absurd journey of his, you know?
So people start to think, oh, is this what queer people are like?
Is this what drag queens are like?
And the answer is a resounding no.
And that's why it's unfortunate,
because it's having a direct impact on us not just on him.
- Santos denied the claims of him performing in drag,
calling them outrageous, only to walk back his denial soon after.
- I was not a drag queen in Brazil.
I was young and I had fun at a festival.
- George Santos has not been forced
to deal with the same outrage
and vitriol that queens across the nation have.
Marti, for instance, went viral in 2019
after a video of them performing "Baby Shark"
was circulated online.
The audience for this performance included children.
- The right wing of the Internet really came in hard
starting those kind of tropes that we're hearing more and more
now, groomer, pedophile,
this is sick, this is perverted, all of those talking points,
but there has been silence around George Santos doing drag.
I don't hear any Republicans calling him a groomer
or calling him a pedophile or saying any of those things.
- They need Santos, you know?
The House right now has a very slim Republican majority.
I don't think they want to get rid of Santos.
They can't afford to lose, really, any members
of the Republican House party.
And, also, I think they would be direct with it
if they really had to discuss it.
Because if they show, oh, we actually have gay people
in the Republican party,
we actually have drag queens in the Republican party,
that's gonna harm what they are trying to do
in terms of legislation.