Tony Winner Alan Cumming Speaks Out Against Mississippi 'Religious Freedom' Bill

This week, Tony Award winning actor Alan Cumming spoke to Page Six of the New York Post about his strong opposition to Mississippi's "Religious Freedom" bill, which gives people permission to refuse service to same-sex couples or transgender people because their religion does not agree with their lifestyle choices.

Cumming comments, "I don't see how a gay person, or an LGBT person just existing in this world, how that can be impeding on anyone's religious freedoms and I have to challenge anyone who supports that law by saying, 'Surely your God is a kind God and if you're looking at THE BIBLE and Jesus as your book of rules then I think you should look at it again to see that he's actually a kind person and he would not approve of suddenly being prejudice against people just because of who they are.'

The 'Good Wife' star adds, "I'm not a religious person. I don't use THE BIBLE as my rule book, but if you're going to throw that at me, I think you should look at it again. I don't see how anyone can be impeded by me existing in the world ... I think it's just another excuse for hatred and persecution and it's very, very dangerous."

The 51-year-old also warns, "I think this is a cause to say, 'Look everybody its a very dangerous state of affairs when we just allow negative things to be said about members of society.'"

Read the article in full here

Cumming plays political maverick Eli Gold on CBS's The Good Wife, for which he received Golden Globe, Emmy, SAG and Satellite award nominations. He was last seen on Broadway in his Tony Award-winning role as the Emcee in CABARET.

The actor is also Host of PBS's Masterpiece Mystery and appeared opposite Lisa Kudrow in Showtime's Web Therapy. He has written for The NY Times, Newsweek, Harpers Bazaar, Out, as well as two books; Tommy's Tale and his NY Times Best Selling memoir, Not My Father's Son. A tireless champion for LGBT civil rights and HIV/AIDS, Alan serves on the Board of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and works closely with amfAR, The Trevor Project and the Ali Forney Center to name but a few.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Broski