Putting the ‘A’ for ‘ally’ in LGBTQIA+? Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift kicked Pride Month and her support for the LGBTQIA+ community with an open letter addressed to Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander, urging him to “protect LGBTQ people from discrimination in their workplace, in their homes and in schools.”

Swift opened the letter by thanking Alexander on co-sponsoring the decision to honor the 100-year anniversary of the 19thAmendment’s ratification. She noted women’s voting rights as a step in the right direction for the country, but also noted that more work needs to be done in order to deliver basic human rights to all people.

 
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🌈HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!!!🌈 While we have so much to celebrate, we also have a great distance to go before everyone in this country is truly treated equally. In excellent recent news, the House has passed the Equality Act, which would protect LGBTQ people from discrimination in their places of work, homes, schools, and other public accommodations. The next step is that the bill will go before the Senate. I’ve decided to kick off Pride Month by writing a letter to one of my senators to explain how strongly I feel that the Equality Act should be passed. I urge you to write to your senators too. I’ll be looking for your letters by searching the hashtag #lettertomysenator. While there’s no information yet as to when the Equality Act will go before the Senate for a vote, we do know this: Politicians need votes to stay in office. Votes come from the people. Pressure from massive amounts of people is a major way to push politicians towards positive change. That’s why I’ve created a petition at change.org to urge the Senate to support the Equality Act. Our country’s lack of protection for its own citizens ensures that LGBTQ people must live in fear that their lives could be turned upside down by an employer or landlord who is homophobic or transphobic. The fact that, legally, some people are completely at the mercy of the hatred and bigotry of others is disgusting and unacceptable. Let’s show our pride by demanding that, on a national level, our laws truly treat all of our citizens equally. 🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈 Click the link in my bio to sign the petition for Senate support of the Equality Act.

A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on May 31, 2019 at 9:05pm PDT

Swift, who just released her Brendon Urie-assisted single, “Me,” brought her colorful return to music (and politics) onto the Wango Tango stage. Donned in a rainbow two-piece set, fluttering with fringes, she performed hit-after-hit-after-hit. Urie, who is openly pansexual, joined Swift on-stage wearing a shirt that read “100% Love, 100% Equality, 100% Loud, 100% Proud, 100% Together, 100% Me.”

Swift, known by fans for her iconography (ie. the number 13, the color red, a snake for the reputation era), seems to be using rainbows and butterflies to soften her image following her last album which debuted a darker and edgier side of Swift.

Swift’s transition may be a symbol of hope for the country, aiming to shed its dark past of anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric and laws. The Equality Act, passed by the House on May 17, has yet to reach the Senate. If voted into law, it would mark the first time that legislation would uncompromisingly benefit and protect the lives of LGBTQIA+ members and protect them against discrimination.

Conversely, President Donald Trump’s administration has voiced its concern for the bill, saying that it “in its current form is filled with poison pills that threaten to undermine parental and conscience rights.”

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Artan Ljukovic

Article by Artan Ljukovic

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