On Thursday, the House Of Representatives voted to pass the Equality Act, which would provide basic protections for those of the LGBTQ+ community against discrimination.
And Taylor Swift, who has actively lobbied for the progressive act in recent years, took to Twitter to celebrate the monumental news.
‘YES!!! Fingers crossed and praying that the Senate will see trans and lgbtq rights as basic human rights,’ wrote the 31-year-old singer-songwriter, who shared a post from GLAAD announcing the House’s decision.
Path to victory: Taylor Swift took to Twitter on Thursday to celebrate the House of Representatives recent vote to pass the Equality Act; Swift pictured in 2019
‘BREAKING: The House has voted 224-206 to pass the #EqualityAct, which would protect LGBTQ people in areas including in housing, education, public accommodations and access to credit,’ read GLAAD’s tweet, which was seen by Swift’s over 88million followers.
The Love Story songstress first lent her massive platform to efforts promoting the passing of the Equality Act in May 2019.
At the time, Swift published a lengthy letter to her Instagram page voicing her support for the bills, referred to as H.R. 5 and S. 788, after learning that the House had, once again, voted to pass the Equality Act.
‘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,’ began the Grammy Award-winner in her well-intentioned post.
Fingers crossed! ‘YES!!! Fingers crossed and praying that the Senate will see trans and lgbtq rights as basic human rights,’ wrote the 31-year-old singer-songwriter, who shared a post from GLAAD announcing the House’s decision
For the obvious next step, which would require the bill to go before the senate, Swift informed her followers that she penned a letter to one of her local senators to ‘explain how strongly I feel that the Equality Act should be passed.’
She encouraged her fans to follow in her footsteps by writing letters to their specific senators, while also utilizing the hashtag #lettertomysenator so she could see them for herself.
After explaining the importance of ‘pushing politicians towards positive change,’ Swift announced that she launched ‘a petition at change.org to urge the Senate to support the Equality Act.’
Using her voice: The Love Story songstress first lent her massive platform to efforts promoting the passing of the Equality Act in May of 2019
Support: At the time, Swift published a lengthy letter to her Instagram page voicing her support for the bills, referred to as H.R. 5 and S. 788, after learning that the House had, once again, voted to pass the Equality Act; Swift pictured in 2019
Since its launch, the Swift-led petition has garnered nearly 830,000 virtual signatures, with an initial goal of 1,000,000.
Taylor continued: ‘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’ lamented the star, before, once again, asking her fans to sign her petition so that ‘our laws truly treat all of our citizens equally.’
Letter to her senator: For the obvious next step, which would require the bill to go before the senate, Swift informed her followers that she penned a letter to one of her local senators to ‘explain how strongly I feel that the Equality Act should be passed’
In June of 2019, Swift famously dropped the music video for her anthemic hit You Need To Calm Down, which featured countless prominent members of the LGBTQ+ community, including her good pal Todrick Hall.
The song, which was the second single off Swift’s seventh studio album Lover, includes several references to Swift’s abhorrence towards LGBTQ+ discrimination.
To conclude the music video, a bright pink title card, featuring Swift’s Equality Act petition, appeared on screen.
Advocating for change: After explaining the importance of ‘pushing politicians towards positive change,’ Swift announced that she launched ‘a petition at change.org to urge the Senate to support the Equality Act’
Impressive: Since its launch, the Swift-led petition has garnered nearly 830,000 virtual signatures, with an initial goal of 1,000,000
Encouraging: To conclude the YNTCD music video, a bright pink title card, featuring Swift’s Equality Act petition, appeared on screen
‘Let’s show our pride by demanding that, on a national level, our laws truly treat all of our citizens equally,’ read the title card.
You Need To Calm Down, which currently has nearly 240million views on YouTube, went on to win Video Of The Year at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards.
Once again using her massive platform to advocate for equality, Taylor used her stage time – as well as her performance of the track – to inform audiences at home of the importance of the Equality Act.
Video Of The Year: You Need To Calm Down, which currently has nearly 240million views on YouTube, went on to win Video Of The Year at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards; Taylor pictured in 2019
Once again using her massive platform to advocate for equality, Taylor used her stage time – as well as her performance of the track – to inform audiences at home of the importance of the Equality Act
‘I first want to say thank you to the fans, because in this video several points were made, so you voting for this video means that you want a world where we’re all treated equally under the law regardless of who we love, regardless of how we identify,’ began the Evermore singer as she carried her Moonperson in hand.
‘At the end of this video there was a petition, and there still is a petition, for the equality act which, basically, just says we all deserve equal rights under the law.
‘I want to thank everyone who signed that petition, because it now has half a million signatures which is five times the amount that it would need to warrant a response from the White House,’ she explained, before going on to thank those who participated in the music video.
Celebratory: ‘I first want to say thank you to the fans, because in this video several points were made, so you voting for this video means that you want a world where we’re all treated equally under the law regardless of who we love, regardless of how we identify,’ began the Evermore singer as she carried her Moonperson in hand; Taylor pictured in 2019
Thankful: ‘I want to thank everyone who signed that petition, because it now has half a million signatures which is five times the amount that it would need to warrant a response from the White House,’ she explained, before going on to thank those who participated in the music video; Taylor pictured in 2019
