When Taylor Swift won the award for Video of the Year for “You Need To Calm Down” at Monday night’s VMAs, she made several points.
First, the video highlights the LGBTQ community and since it was a fan-voted award, Swift assumes fans must also want to live in a world where everyone is treated equal. Second, Swift’s petition for the Senate to pass the Equality Act at the end of the video has half a million signatures so far. And lastly, that’s five times the amount to warrant a response from the White House.
After Swift made her third point, she looked at the invisible watch on her left hand to signal the White House to respond to her petition.
According to petitions.whitehouse.gov, if your petition gets 100,000 signatures in the first 30 days, the White House will give an official update in 60 days. Swift published her petition the first day of Pride Month, June 1, which was 87 days ago.
“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,” part of the petition reads. “The fact that, legally, some people are completely at the mercy of the hatred and bigotry of others is disgusting and unacceptable.”
Her VMA acceptance speech comes days after she called Trump’s administration an autocracy and said she regrets not speaking her beliefs during the 2016 election. “Obviously, I’m pro-choice,” Swift told the Guardian. “I just can’t believe this is happening.”
Swift ended her VMAs speech by thanking the cast in the “You Need To Calm Down” video, which included performer Todrick Hall, several drag queens (Riley Knoxx, Delta Work, Trinity K. Bonet, and others, all dressed as pop stars), YouTuber Hannah Hart, and others.
“My cast lives their lives so authentically. Thank you for being the example you are.”
RELATED: How Kamala Harris Managed to Upset Taylor Swift Fans This Weekend
Stay on top of the latest in L.A. food and culture. Sign up for our newsletters today.
The post Taylor Swift Called Out the White House in Her VMAs Acceptance Speech appeared first on Los Angeles Magazine.