Taylor Swift takes aim at Trump as she gathers support for pro-LGBT laws

By Press Association

June 1 2019, 6:31 am

Taylor Swift took aim at Donald Trump as she gathered support for a pro-LGBT law in the US (Matt Crossick/PA)

Taylor Swift took aim at Donald Trump as she gathered support for a pro-LGBT law in the US.

The pop star, who broke her long-held silence on political matters last year to support the Democrats, is urging her fans to send letters to their senators calling for them to back the Equality Act.

The act, which has been passed by the House Of Representatives and will now go before the Republican-held Senate, would introduce laws to protect the LGBT community, by adding sexual orientation and gender identity as outlawed forms of discrimination.

#lettertomysenator https://t.co/EKYMXZw5U9 pic.twitter.com/Ym0mGeOHgc
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 1, 2019

On Friday evening, Swift shared an open letter to Twitter, telling her fans that as it stands, “legally, some people are completely at the mercy of the hatred and bigotry of others”, adding it is “disgusting and unacceptable”.

Using the hashtag #lettertomysenator, she asked people to write to their senators, demanding they support the Equality Act.

Swift, 29, also shared the letter she wrote to her senator in Tennessee, the Republican Lamar Alexander.

Taylor Swift has taken aim at Donald Trump over his opposition to a pro-LGBT bill (Brian Lawless/PA)

In it, she referenced a reported statement from a senior White House official said to confirm Mr Trump’s opposition to the act.

Swift said: “I personally reject the President’s stance that his administration ‘supports equal treatment for all’ but that the Equality Act ‘in its current form is filled with poison pills that threaten to undermine parental and conscience rights’.

“No. One cannot take the position that one supports a community, while condemning it in the next breath as going against ‘conscience’ or ‘parental rights’.”

View this post on Instagram

🌈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 added: “That statement implies that there is something morally wrong with being anything other than heterosexual or cisgender, which is an incredibly harmful message to send to a nation full of healthy and loving families with same-sex, nonbinary or transgender parents, sons or daughters.”

After asking Mr Alexander to support the Equality Act, Swift signed the letter: “I, for one, would be immensely grateful.”

Following Swift’s earlier intervention, ahead of the US midterm elections in November, Mr Trump said: “I like Taylor’s music about 25% less now, OK?”