Taylor Swift is one of the best selling, most awarded musicians in pop right now, and she’s using her massive platform (and wallet) to fight back against hate and discrimination in her home state of Tennessee. Six months after she first endorsed Democratic candidate Phil Bredesen for one of Tennessee’s US Senate seats, Swift is speaking out again.
According to representatives from the organization, Swift donated $113,000 to the Tennessee Equality Project (TEP) on Monday. The donation came along with a handwritten note, in which Swift praised the work the TEP does. Swift references the “Slate of Hate,” a series of bills that would allow adoption agencies to discriminate against same-sex couples. The TEP is working to make sure that these bills, along with any others that discriminate against LGBT individuals, are not passed into Tennessee state law.
“Dear Chris, I’m writing you to say that I’m so inspired by the work you do, specifically in organizing the recent petition of Tennessee faith leaders standing up against the ‘Slate of Hate’ in our state legislature,” Swift wrote. “Please convey my heartfelt thanks to them and accept this donation to support the work you and those leaders are doing.”
Tennessee: Look What You Made Her Do — donate to support the rights of LGBTQ Tennesseans. Thank you @TaylorSwift13 for supporting our incredible partners @tnequality. #TNLeg. https://t.co/QoNa2ivRbR
— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) April 9, 2019
And expect the singer to continue her political advocacy. In a recent Q&A in Elle, Swift said, “I realized that it actually is my responsibility to use my influence […] I’m going to do more to help. We have a big race coming up next year.”
