Taylor Swift pushes for passage of Equality Act and blasts 2020 Census for transgender erasure

Taylor Swift continues to use her voice for more than just her hugely successful career as a singer and narrative songwriter.

On Friday, The 10-time Grammy Award-winner, 30, took part in Pride Live’s Stonewall Day livestream event, which is an annual commemoration of the 1969 Stonewall uprising that helped spark the modern day gay rights movement.

During her taped segment, she praised the U.S Supreme Court’s ruling last week that protects LGBTQ people from workplace discrimination, pushed for the passage of the Equality Act, and blasted the 2020 U.S. Census for excluding transgender and nonbinary people.

Using her voice: Taylor Swift showed of her political activist side when she took part in Pride Live’s Stonewall Day livestream event, an annual commemoration of the 1969 Stonewall uprising that helped spark the modern day gay rights movement.

‘I wanted to say happy Pride Month. The Stonewall Inn has been such a symbol of rebellion in the face of oppression and such a safe place for people,’ she began in her message.

‘I want to say thank you to everybody who works there; everybody who has worked there; everybody who’s made it the place that it is.’

From there, Swift’s activist side shined through as she addressed issues true to her heart.

Respect: The pop superstar began by praising The Stonewall Inn for being a symbol of rebellion in the face of oppression and such a safe place for people

Thumbs up: The Lover star referenced her approval of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this month that the 1964 Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity

In a nod of approval, the Lover star referenced the Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this month that the 1964 Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sex discrimination, applies to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. 

‘We had a really good step forward recently with the Supreme Court ruling based on discrimination, based on sex, but we still have so far to go in terms of equality and protections for LGBTQ people and people in the trans community,’ she noted.

Despite her approval, the Tennessee native took the push for equal rights a step farther by pointing out that the Equality Act [H.R. 5- 116th Congress] has still not been passed and emphasized that it ‘needs to happen.’

Pushing forward: The Tennessee native, 30, also pointed out that the Equality Act [H.R. 5- 116th Congress] has still not been passed and emphasized that it ‘needs to happen.’

Exclusion: The singer blasted the 2020 U.S. Census for only offering two choices for gender

Another issue of contention the singer targeted was the 2020 U.S. Census and what she thinks is a lack of inclusion.

‘I got my Census the other day and there were two choices for gender. There was male and female and that erasure was so upsetting to me, the erasure of transgender and nonbinary people,’ she explained. 

‘When you don’t collect information on a group of people, that means that you have every excuse in the world not to support them. When you don’t collect data on a community, that’s a really, really brutal way of dismissing them.’

VOTE! Swift used the lack of gender diversity for the 2020 U.S. Census as a call to action for her fans to vote in the upcoming elections

Swift used the lack of gender diversity as a call to action for her fans to vote.

‘Obviously, we all need to exercise our right to vote this year. We need to check out our absentee ballot policy in our states and we need to make sure that we elect people who care about all communities.’

She ended by hoping people have an amazing rest of Pride Month and to ‘continue fighting the good fight.’

Other speakers during the Pride Live’s Stonewall Day virtual event also included former President Barack Obama, pop stars Katy Perry, Demi Lovato and Kesha, Bravo’s Andy Cohen, actress Cynthia Erivo and actor George Takei, among many more.