Taylor Swift Begs TN Senator To Support Equality Act & Fans Cheer Her For Protecting LGBTQ Rights

Taylor Swift kicks off Pride Month with a passionate Instagram post. ‘To vote against this bill would be to vote against the wishes of most Tennesseans and Americans.’

Taylor Swift, 29, is using her platform for good. The “Me!” singer, who previously refused to get involved in politics, is now using her platform to create change. Taylor posted a two-page note on Instagram on May 31 showing her letter to her Tennessee senator, Lamar Alexander, 78, begging him to support the Equality Act, which has been passed by the house and will go through the senate as well. The Equality Act was created to protect LGBTQ+ people from discrimination in work, school, their homes, and other public places.

“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,” Taylor explained in her post caption. “I urge you to write to your senators too. I’ll be looking for your letters by searching the hashtag #lettertomysenator.” Taylor also said the link in her bio was to a petition online to gather tangible support – the pop star originally sought 50,000 signatures. At the time of publication, the petition has received more than 40,000 signatures in less than 24 hours.

In Taylor’s letter to her senator, she addressed that LGBTQ+ discrimination in the workplace could affect the state’s economy, preventing people from taking jobs in the state. Taylor took a stand against President Donald Trump’s take on the act, which was that the Equality Act “in its current form is filled with poison pills that threaten to undermine parental and conscience rights.” Taylor responded: “That statement implies that there is something morally wrong with being anything other than heterosexual and cisgender, which is an incredibly harmful message to send a nation full of healthy and loving families with same-sex, nonbinary or transgender parents, sons or daughters.”

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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

Taylor further went on to cite that the majority of Tennesseans “support laws for protection of LGBTQ people against discrimination,” which would be the senator’s constituents. “Please, please think about the lives you could change for the better if you were to vote to support the Equality Act in the Senate and prohibit this harsh and unfair discrimination. I, for one, would be immensely grateful.” We love to see Taylor speaking up for what she’s passionate about, and happy to see that the star is inspiring such change.