CNN
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Taylor Swift kicked off the Chicago leg of her “Eras Tour” Friday night with a powerful Pride month message in support of the LGBTQ community.
“I’m looking out tonight and I’m seeing so many incredible individuals who are living authentically and beautifully,” Swift said at Chicago’s Soldier Field, adding “this is a safe space for you, this is a celebratory space for you.”
Swift went on to tell the audience how “prideful” she feels when she gets to sing her equality anthem, “You Need to Calm Down,” with them “in such solidarity, in such support of one another, in such encouraging, beautiful acceptance and peace and safety.”
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Taylor Swift in the ‘You Need to Calm Down’ music video in 2019.
“We can’t talk about Pride without talking about pain,” she said, pivoting from her celebration of the community to the realities of the current political climate. She brought up what she called recent “harmful pieces of legislation that have put people in the LGBTQ and queer community at risk.”
“It’s painful for everyone,” she said, adding she tries informing her followers when the midterms and key primaries are in an effort to encourage them to vote.
The “Midnights” singer began speaking out about her political beliefs in 2018 when she endorsed Tennessee Democrats Phil Bredesen and Jim Cooper, who ran for Senate and House of Representatives, respectively.
One of her driving factors, she said at the time in a message posted to her verified Instagram page, was because she believes “in the fight for LGBTQ rights, and that any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender is WRONG.”
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(From left) Shayna Weachter, Cecelia Zschunke, Riley O’Brien, and Rayana Weachter scream when Taylor Swift’s set begins, which they are listening to from the parking lot outside of Lincoln Financial Field, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in May.
“We can support as much as we want during Pride month but if we’re not doing our research on these elected officials – Are they advocates? Are they allies? Are they protectors of equality? Do I want to vote for them?” she said on Friday.
Concluding her speech, Swift told the audience that she loves them and wished everyone a “happy pride month.”
As Swift celebrated with her Chicago audience, hundreds of ticketless Swifties showed their support by gathering outside of Soldier Field on Saturday night to sing along with the show.
The gathering has become a pattern along various “Eras Tour” stops, beginning in May when thousands of ticketless Swifties flocked to sing and dance outside of Philadelphia’s Lincoln Field.
