Democratic 2020 candidates Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) signed a petition promoted by pop star activist Taylor Swift urging the Senate to pass the Equality Act, which seeks to give LGBTQ people more legal rights and protections.
The petition, which is live on the website Change.org, was set up by Taylor Swift to help LGBT people who live in “fear that their lives could be turned upside down by an employer or landlord who is homophobic or transphobic.”
“It’s 2019 and our LGBTQ+ friends continue to face discrimination at work, school, and in their communities,” Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said in a statement endorsing the petition. “Enough is enough. I’m proud to represent Massachusetts in the Senate, a state that has led the nation in protecting and promoting equality. But there’s so much more work to be done. We can start by passing the Equality Act.”
Last week, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) who is also seeking the party’s 2020 presidential nomination in 2020, also signed Swift’s petition, having been one of the lawmakers who introduced the legislation.
“The fact that, legally, some people are completely at the mercy of the hatred and bigotry of others is disgusting and unacceptable,” reads the petition, which now has over 350,000 signatures. “Let’s show our pride by demanding that, on a national level, our laws truly treat all of our citizens equally.”
Earlier this month, Swift accused the Trump administration, which is campaigning for the decriminalization of homosexuality around the world, of failing to meet the wider demands of the LGBT movement during Pride Month.
“I personally reject the President’s stance that his administration ‘supports equal treatment of all.’” the “ME” singer wrote in a letter to Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) urging him to support the Equality Act.
This week, the 29-year-old crooner released a music video for her song “You Need to Calm Down,” which depicted opponents of the political LGBTQ movement as angry, toothless, and uneducated rubes.
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