Taylor Swift kicked off Pride Month with a celebratory message for her fans. As the European leg of the 34-year-old singer’s Eras Tour rolls on, she offered a special shoutout during the Lover portion of her show on Sunday.
Swift hit the stage at Groupama Stadium in Lyon, France, for her first of two scheduled performances. While singing her 2019 hit, “You Need to Calm Down,” she shouted, “Happy Pride Month, Lyon!” prompting cheers from the audience.
Taking place every June, Pride Month celebrates the self-affirmation, dignity, equality and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The month-long celebration was given the name “Pride” to encourage those feelings as the community comes together to celebrate and bolster LGBTQ+ rights movements.
Swift chose a perfect moment in her setlist to celebrate the occasion, as the release of “You Need to Calm Down” previously marked one of Swift’s first high-profile displays of support for the LGBTQ+ community and took aim at the keyboard crusaders behind social media vitriol.
“Why are you mad? / When you could be GLAAD?” she croons on the song, referencing the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. “Sunshine on the street at the parade / But you would rather be in the dark ages / Making that sign, must’ve taken all night.”
She goes on, “You just need to take several seats and then try to restore the peace / And control your urges to scream about all the people you hate / ‘Cause shade never made anybody less gay.”
On the chorus, Swift declares, “You need to calm down / You’re being too loud” and “You need to just stop / Like, can you just not step on his gown? / You need to calm down.”
The corresponding music video was brilliantly star-studded, featuring cameos from Ellen DeGeneres, Ryan Reynolds, Laverne Cox, Dexter Mayfield, Ciara, RuPaul, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Justin Mikita, Billy Porter, Adam Lambert, Todrick Hall, Hayley Kiyoko, Chester Lockhart, Adam Rippon, Hannah Hart and Queer Eye‘s Fab Five (Karamo Brown, Antoni Porowski, Bobby Berk, Tan France and Jonathan Van Ness) — to name a few.
The biggest surprise, however, was the appearance of Katy Perry, who donned her hamburger dress from the Met Gala after-parties that year. Dressed as French fries, Swift united with Perry, formally squashing their prior beef.
At the end of the video, Swift included a call to action for support of the Equality Act. “Let’s show our pride by demanding that, on a national level, our laws truly treat all of our citizens equally,” read a pink and yellow on-screen chyron.
Also over the weekend, Perry kicked off Pride Month in her own way by trolling Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker over his recent controversial commencement speech.
Last month, Butker took aim at what he called “dangerous gender ideologies,” seemingly referencing Pride month, and attacking “diabolical lies” he claimed have been told to women about finding happiness in careers over their families during his remarks at Benedictine College. In his speech, he also quoted Swift’s “Bejeweled” lyrics and referenced her relationship with Travis Kelce, calling her “my teammate’s girlfriend.”
Perry, an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ+ and women’s rights, fired back by cutting down Butker’s speech to only include positive things and to rearrange his words in order to celebrate women’s accomplishments and June’s Pride month.
“For the ladies present today, congratulations on an amazing accomplishment. You should be proud of all that you have achieved to this point in your young lives,” Perry’s edited version begins.
“The road ahead is bright. Things are changing, society is shifting, and people young and old are embracing diversity, equity and inclusion.” her version also includes. “With that said, I want to say happy Pride Month to all of you and congratulations class of 2024.”
In her caption, Perry wrote, “fixed this for my girls, my graduates, and my gays — you can do anything, congratulations and happy pride 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ 🧡.”
As for Swift, she’ll perform again in Lyon on Monday night before continuing her Eras trek in Edinburgh, Scotland, later this week.
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