Taylor Swift. (Roy Rochlin/FilmMagic)
Taylor Swift has paid tribute to the “courageous activists, advocates and allies” who have fought tirelessly for LGBT+ rights in a touching Pride Month message.
The “Willow” singer shared her empowering message on Tuesday (1 June), the first day of Pride Month.
Writing on Twitter, Taylor Swift said: “I want to take a moment to thank the courageous activists, advocates and allies for their dedication to fighting against discrimination and hatred.
“And as always, today I’m sending my respect and love to those bravely living out their truth, even when the world we live in still makes that so hard to do.”
She continued: “Who you love and how you identify shouldn’t put you in danger, leave you vulnerable or hold you back in life.
“I proudly join GLAAD in their #summerofequality and add my voice to those who support the Equality Act.”
Swift closed out her heartfelt message by wishing her fans a happy Pride Month.
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 1, 2021
Taylor Swift is a longtime advocate for the LGBT+ community
This is not the first time the acclaimed singer and songwriter has spoken out on behalf of the LGBT+ community.
In 2019, she released “You Need To Calm Down”, an LGBT+ anthem that touched on the discrimination faced every day by queer people.
The song, which name-checked GLAAD, hit out at homophobes who turn up to Pride marches protesting against the existence of LGBT+ people.
Shortly after the song was released, Swift told Vogue that she was inspired to speak out on LGBT+ rights after her friend Todrick Hall asked her a “devastating” question.
“Maybe a year or two ago, Todrick and I are in the car, and he asked me, ‘What would you do if your son was gay?’” Swift said.
“The fact that he had to ask me… shocked me and made me realise that I had not made my position clear enough or loud enough.”
The question made Swift realise that her LGBT+ fans might not have been aware that she supported them.
“It was kind of devastating to realise that I hadn’t been publicly clear about that,” she said.