Taylor Swift is arguably the biggest star of not only pop/country but in all of music, particularly given her relationship with Super Bowl winner Travis Kelce. As such, she mostly kept her political beliefs to herself during the early formative years of her career. Though many people suspected Swift would be a liberal, she was careful to keep that side of her under wraps.
Such a stance would make sense, and is probably why Swift avoided taking sides in her Super Tuesday 2024 Instagram post about the importance of voting, for example. As Michael Jordan once said, paraphrased of course, “Republicans buy shoes too.” Since the country music world mostly comprises conservatives, or at least people who are generally thought to be somewhat conservative by most of society, Swift made her name as a non-political country songstress.
However, Swift’s general unwillingness to talk about politics changed in October 2018. Then, Swift made some strong pro-LGBTQ statements on a new record. She also started speaking out about what she saw as racial injustices. She also backed Biden in the 2020 election.
Then, in June of 2023, during the middle of the “Era’s” tour and Pride Month upon us, Swift made a point during her Chicago show to speak out and breathe new life into leftist causes. She said: “I’m looking out tonight [and] I’m seeing so many incredible individuals who are living authentically and beautifully, and this is a safe space for you.”
It is unclear exactly what Swift is alluding to when she calls her show a “safe space.” Chicago, in general, is a city filled with violent crime. It does boast one of the largest LGBTQ populations in America, which could have been what she was referring to. “Boystown” in Chicago is the second biggest gay community in the country. She could also have just meant her concert generally.
In any case, Ms. Swift seized the moment and whipped up the crowd. She continued: “This is a celebratory space for you. You guys are screaming those lyrics [with] such solidarity [and] such support of one another and such encouraging, beautiful acceptance and peace and safety.” She went further, adding, “And I wish that every place was safe and beautiful for people of the LGBTQ+ community.”
She also encouraged people to investigate officials to see if they are friendly to LGBTQ+ causes, saying, “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?”
"*" indicates required fields
Watch Taylor go woke at the concert here:
She famously took to Instagram previously to parrot another mostly false talking point: “I believe in the fight for LGBTQ rights, and that any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender is WRONG.” Such discrimination is also illegal, and as such, while terrible, is relatively rare, particularly in blue cities like Chicago.