Taylor Swift Gives Surprise Pride Performance At Stonewall Inn

Taylor Swift gave a surprise performance at the Stonewall Inn on Friday, just hours after releasing her latest anti-hate anthem “You Need To Calm Down.”

The historic LGBTQ site was holding an event to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, the 1969 riots that launched the gay rights movement.

Modern Family‘s Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who hosted the event, shared photos of him and the “Shake It Off” singer on his social media.

“Just sing, dance and be yourself—so I did. Last night I hosted a concert at the historic @thestonewallinn and some pretty amazing people showed up,” he captioned the photos. “I got to live my life and dance like a dad with my ❤️, @taylorswift!”

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In a video shared to social media by the event’s co-organizer, entertainment group AEG, Swift says she picked to sing “Shake It Off” because she heard it was Ferguson’s favorite song to sing at karaoke.

“If there’s anything you feel like you wanna jump in on, if there’s like your part that you’re really good at, then just sing, dance, just be yourself,” she said before she burst into song. “This is a really safe space.”

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It’s been quite a busy Pride Month for the Grammy winner. Her new single — which features lyrics like “Control your urges to scream about all the people you hate / ‘Cause shade never made anybody less gay” — calls out haters and homophobes.

And to kickstart the month, Swift posted a letter that she wrote to Tennessee State Senator Lamar Alexander on her social media accounts. The letter urged him to vote for the Equality Act, which protects LGBTQ people from discrimination.

“For American citizens to be denied jobs or housing based on who they love or how they identify, in my opinion, is un-American and cruel,” she wrote.

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Back in April 2018, Swift also donated $113,000 to a Tennessee LGBTQ advocacy group.

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