Taylor Swift penned an open letter supporting the Equality Act for Pride Month—and spoke out against President Trump

Olivia Harvey
It's finally here! Taylor Swift's second song off her new album, "Lover," is "You Need to Calm Down" and it speaks out against online bullying, homophobia, and sexism. Listen here!

Pride Month kicked off on June 1st, and Taylor Swift is already hard at work being an ally. She penned an open letter to Republican Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander in support of the Equality Act, which advocates for the prevention of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Along with an online petition, Swift hopes her letter will inspire others to contact their senators and demand they support the act when it appears in the Senate.

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🌈Like a rainbow with all of the colors🌈 Thank you to everyone who came to @1027kiisfm #WangoTango! That was FUN 🥳 Ps a huge thank you to @brendonurie for surprising the crowd!! 📸: @richfury @kevinmazur @jeffkravitz @wesandalex @gettyentertainment

A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Jun 2, 2019 at 8:44am PDT

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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 begins her letter to Senator Alexander by commending him for co-sponsoring a resolution to honor the centennial celebration of passing the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. She then outlines the cruciality of the passage of the Equality Act and how, if it’s not passed, the lack of protection would be detrimental to Tennessee citizens as well as the state’s economy.

Swift also states that she rejects the president’s negative remarks about the Equality Act.

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🌈Like a rainbow with all of the colors🌈 Thank you to everyone who came to @1027kiisfm #WangoTango! That was FUN 🥳 Ps a huge thank you to @brendonurie for surprising the crowd!! 📸: @richfury @kevinmazur @jeffkravitz @wesandalex @gettyentertainment

A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Jun 2, 2019 at 8:44am PDT

During her June 2nd performance at iHeartRadio’s Wango Tango, Swift urged fans to check out her Change.org petition. It had been signed by over 99,000 people as of June 3rd.

“It’s for the Equality Act, and it basically just says that we want to send a message to our government that we believe everybody should be treated fairly in this country,” Swift said, Rolling Stone reports. “If you sign it, it would really mean a lot to me, because I think we need to stick up for each other and stand together. Don’t you?”

Sign the petition and contact your state Senator regarding the Equality Act. Swift, and many others, will thank you.