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Taylor Swift says Todrick Hall made her realise she needed to vocally support the LGBTQ community

The singer rarely spoke about her political stance or where she stood on LGBTQ equality until recently

By Steve Brown

Words: Steve Brown

Taylor Swift said Todrick Hall made her realise she needed to speak about LGBTQ rights.

For years, Taylor rarely spoke about her political stance, be it who she was supporting in the 2016 presidential election, or where she stood on LGBTQ equality.

However, this year, Taylor has shown solidarity with the LGBTQ community through the song ‘You Need to Calm Down’ which saw her directly address gay Pride protestors and US LGBTQ rights organisation GLAAD.

The lyrics of the second verse see Taylor sing: “You are somebody that we don’t know / But you’re comin’ at my friends like a missile / Why are you mad when you could be GLAAD? (You could be GLAAD) / Sunshine on the street at the parade / But you would rather be in the dark ages / Makin’ that sign must’ve taken all night.”

And now, while appearing on the September 2019 Vogue cover, Taylor revealed that RuPaul choreographer and close friend Todrick Hall helped her realise she needed to be vocal in her support.

She recalled a time when Todrick asked her what she would do if one of her children was gay. She said: “The fact that he had to ask me . . . shocked me and made me realise that I had not made my position clear enough or loud enough.

“If he was thinking that, I can’t imagine what my fans in the LGBTQ community might be thinking.

“It was kind of devastating to realise that I hadn’t been publicly clear about that.”