The White House Responds To Taylor Swift’s Equality Act Petition After Being Called Out At The VMAs

Earlier this summer, Taylor Swift launched a petition in support of the Equality Act, the aim of which is to protect LGBTQ people from discrimination. Swift’s petition urges the Senate to support the bill, and now, after some prodding at the VMAs, Swift has received a response from the White House.

While accepting an award at the VMAs, Swift said, “I want to thank everyone who signed that petition, because it now has half a million signatures, which is five times the amount that it would need to warrant a response from the White House.” She then pantomimed checking her watch, indicating that she’s waiting to hear back.

Now CNN reports that White House press secretary Judd Deere has issued a response, saying that while “the Trump administration absolutely opposes discrimination of any kind,” the White House does not support the bill in its current form: “The Trump administration absolutely opposes discrimination of any kind and supports the equal treatment of all; however, the House-passed bill in its current form is filled with poison pills that threaten to undermine parental and conscience rights.”

Swift’s petition reads in part, “While we have so much to celebrate, we also have a great distance to go before everyone in this country is truly treated equally. In excellent recent news, the House has passed the Equality Act, which would protect LGBTQ people from discrimination in their places of work, homes, schools, and other public accommodations. The next step is that the bill will go before the Senate. […] 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. The fact that, legally, some people are completely at the mercy of the hatred and bigotry of others is disgusting and unacceptable. Let’s show our pride by demanding that, on a national level, our laws truly treat all of our citizens equally.”

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