LGBTQ ally Taylor Swift at the forefront during the VMAs
Pop star and LGBTQ ally Taylor Swift showed why she has the back of the LGBTQ community when she recently won the coveted Video of the Year at the VMAs.
For one, her award-winning video for “You Need to Calm Down” criticized homophobia and featured cameos of high-profile LGBTQ celebrities.
For another, she took a dig at President Donald Trump during her acceptance speech for the Moon Person trophy on stage.
Lastly, she paid tribute to the cast of her video, especially the drag queens, by making sure they got their own Moon Person trophies.
LGBTQ ally Taylor Swift takes on Trump
Swift’s video for “You Need to Calm Down,” which won VMAs’ Video of the Year, not only featured LGBTQ issues and personalities, it also endorsed a petition to support the Equality Act.
Because of the video, the petition had garnered half a million signatures, which is five times the number to warrant a response from the White House.
During her acceptance speech, Swift said “several points were made” with the video. She also tapped an imaginary watch on her wrist directed at Trump’s inaction.
Swift also thanked her fans for signing her petition, saying the Equality Act “basically just says we all deserve equal rights under the law.”
Prior to this, Swift had become increasingly vocal in her support of LGBTQ rights and urged her fans to support the Equality Act.
She also accused Trump of using the “dirtiest tricks” during his election campaign.
LGBTQ ally Taylor Swift gives credit to her crew
The pop star opened the VMAs’ ceremony with songs from her newly-released album, “Lover,” under a rainbow and with a number of drag queens.
These drag queens, which included Tatianna, Trinity K Bonet, and Jade Jolie, took center stage with gold crowns in their hands as Swift was signing.
They later on joined her on stage again at the end of the show when Swift accepted the video of the year award.
Later on, in an Instagram story, Bonet revealed: “Taylor Swift made sure that each and every one of us gets two moon men for the awards that she won tonight.”
“[She] would not perform unless we got awards too,” Bonet said.
Swift also gave the mic to Todrick Hall, co-executive producer of the video, when the trophy was awarded.
Hall said: “If you are a young child out there watching this show who is different, who feels misunderstood, we need you more than ever to share your art, share your stories, share your truth with the world no matter what you identify as, who you identify as, who you love.”
For the award-winning video, check it out here:
Check out Swift’s acceptance speech here: