Taylor Swift Was Right About Those Anti-LGBTQ Tennessee Politicians

#Celebrities, #Politics, Activism, #TaylorSwift, #LGBT#Celebrities

The state's legislators are pushing many anti-LGBTQ bills.

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#PoliticsActivism#TaylorSwift#LGBTTaylor Swift Was Right About Those Anti-LGBTQ Tennessee PoliticiansTaylor Henderson

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."


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I’m writing this post about the upcoming midterm elections on November 6th, in which I’ll be voting in the state of Tennessee. In the past I’ve been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now. I always have and always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve in this country. I believe in the fight for LGBTQ rights, and that any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender is WRONG. I believe that the systemic racism we still see in this country towards people of color is terrifying, sickening and prevalent. 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. Running for Senate in the state of Tennessee is a woman named Marsha Blackburn. As much as I have in the past and would like to continue voting for women in office, I cannot support Marsha Blackburn. Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me. She voted against equal pay for women. She voted against the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which attempts to protect women from domestic violence, stalking, and date rape. She believes businesses have a right to refuse service to gay couples. She also believes they should not have the right to marry. These are not MY Tennessee values. I will be voting for Phil Bredesen for Senate and Jim Cooper for House of Representatives. Please, please educate yourself on the candidates running in your state and vote based on who most closely represents your values. For a lot of us, we may never find a candidate or party with whom we agree 100% on every issue, but we have to vote anyway. So many intelligent, thoughtful, self-possessed people have turned 18 in the past two years and now have the right and privilege to make their vote count. But first you need to register, which is quick and easy to do. October 9th is the LAST DAY to register to vote in the state of TN. Go to vote.org and you can find all the info. Happy Voting!

A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Oct 7, 2018 at 4:33pm PDT

(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!


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A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Mar 14, 2019 at 1:10pm PDT

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Taylor Swift Was Right About Those Anti-LGBTQ Tennessee Politicians

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