TAS Rights ManagementFollowing the release of Taylor Swift‘s new single “You Need to Calm Down,” with its pro-LGBTQ lyrics and video, some have questioned the singer’s motivations in aligning herself with that community. But one of the stars of the video says Taylor should be celebrated for her efforts to promote equality.
All the stars of the Netflix hit Queer Eye make appearances in the video, and Bobby Berk, the show’s interior design specialist, tells Billboard, “One thing that infuriates me are the amount of people who’ve come after her in our community in the last week, saying things like she doesn’t have any business latching onto the queer community or is using the queer community to promote herself.”
He points out, “She doesn’t need us. She is doing just fine on her own and is using her platform as somebody that millions and millions and millions of people look up to and is saying, ‘Hey, everybody needs to be treated equally.'”
“For her to be using her time and money to help us and help the Equality Act get passed, I mean, we owe her a debt,” Bobby adds. “You don’t have to be queer to be a queer ally, and she’s definitely a queer ally.”
As previously reported, Taylor has launched a petition to urge the passage of the Equality Act, which would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity on a nationwide level.
As for his experience on the video set, Bobby gushes, “You meet a lot of people in our business who honestly can be a disappointment…so it really made me happy to meet Taylor and see she wasn’t just a character portraying kindness and acceptance. She really is that person in real life.”
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