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Taylor Swift Was Right About Those Anti-LGBTQ Tennessee Politicians
The state's legislators are pushing many anti-LGBTQ bills.
Last November in a controversial Instagram post to her 100 million followers, country pop star Taylor Swift came out as a Democrat and encouraged her followers to vote for democratic Tennessee candidate Phil Bredesen and Jim Cooper for the Senate and U.S. House of Representatives respectively.
"I cannot vote for someone who will not be willing to fight for dignity for ALL Americans, no matter their skin color, gender or who they love," she wrote. "I believe in the fight for LGBTQ rights, and that any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender is WRONG."
(Did Taylor Swift just throw the first brick at Stonewall??)
But despite her call to action that reportedly incited hundreds of thousands of voter registrations, Bredesen lost against "appalling and terrifying" conservative Republican Marsha Blackburn Swift warned against. Now, the GOP is wreaking havoc on LGBTQ+ rights for Tennesseans.
Since last November, they've introduced a bill allowing foster care and adoption agencies to deny child placement to LGBTQ families if it violates "religious or moral convictions or policies" as well as a bill seeking to expand the definition of indecent exposure that The Advocate says was originally written to target transgender people in public restrooms. This Thursday, the state's own version of a "license to discriminate" bill is also going before the House that would allow businesses with discriminatory policies to receive government funding.
These are all heavy blows for queer people living in Tennessee, but The Advocate reports several ways to fight the hate, including calling legislators and mobilizing faith leaders and business.
It seems like Taylor Swift was right all along about those conservative politicians, but her urge to vote through social media wasn't enough to sway the vote. Some reports say it might've actually mobilized even more Republican voters to get out to the polls.
Democrats might've lost last November's battle, but it doesn't mean we stop fighting. Gay rights!
Taylor Henderson is a PRIDE.com contributor. This proud Texas Bama studied Media Production/Studies and Sociology at The University of Texas at Austin, where he developed his passions for pop culture, writing, and videography. He's absolutely obsessed with Beyoncé, mangoes, and cheesy YA novels that allow him to vicariously experience the teen years he spent in the closet. He's also writing one!
Taylor Henderson is a PRIDE.com contributor. This proud Texas Bama studied Media Production/Studies and Sociology at The University of Texas at Austin, where he developed his passions for pop culture, writing, and videography. He's absolutely obsessed with Beyoncé, mangoes, and cheesy YA novels that allow him to vicariously experience the teen years he spent in the closet. He's also writing one!
