LOS ANGELES (DPA) – US pop star Taylor Swift criticised President Donald Trump while calling on her senator to support a law that would protect Americans from gender or sexual orientation-based discrimination.
In a letter shared with Swift’s over 270 million followers across her social media platforms, the pop superstar called on Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander to support the Equality Act.
“For American citizens to be denied jobs or housing based on who they love or how they identify, in my opinion, is un-American and cruel,” Swift said.
Swift – one of the world’s biggest celebrities – added that she “rejects” President Donald Trump’s current stance against the Bill while claiming to support equality for all.
The Trump administration’s stance “implies that there is something morally wrong” with the LGBTQ community she said, calling it an “incredibly harmful message to send to a nation of healthy and loving families with same-sex, nonbinary or transgender, sons or daughters.”
According to the culture website Vulture, this is the first time Swift has publicly criticised Trump.
Swift also started an online petition, which had garnered nearly 60,000 signatures 22 hours after its creation on Friday.
?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.
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The Equality Act was passed by the Democrat-controlled US House of Representatives in May and the Bill is now being reviewed in the Republican-controlled Senate.
It is unclear when or if the Bill will be brought to a vote in the Senate.
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