Pride Month: Taylor Swift makes surprise appearance at Stonewall Inn in New York
Pop star appeared at the historic venue at the request of actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and performed an acoustic rendition of 'Shake It Off'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Taylor Swift performed a surprise gig in New York at the Stonewall Inn as part of their Pride celebrations commemorating 50 years since the Stonewall Uprising.
Swift appeared at the historic venue at the request of actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who joined her on stage for an acoustic rendition of “Shake it Off”.
“I heard that this is Jesse’s favorite song to do at karaoke,” she began. “So if there’s anything you feel like you want to jump in on, if there’s like, your part that you’re really good at, then, just sing, dance, just be yourself. This is a really safe space.”
The event was co-hosted by Diva Jackie Dupree and included performances by Sara Bareilles, Gavin Creel, Lea DeLaria, VINCINT and more.
Swift's performance comes after the release of her new single “You Need to Calm Down”, which gives a subtle shout-out to the LGBT+ charity GLAAD and asks people with bigoted views to “calm down” because “shade never made anyone less gay”.
Swift has recently become more vocal in her support of the LGBT+ community – in April she donated $130,000 to an LGBTQ advocacy group in Tennessee and wrote an open letter telling its organisers how inspired she was by their work.
“I’m writing you to say that I’m so inspired by the work you do, specifically in organising the recent petition of Tennessee faith leaders standing up against the ‘Slate of Hate’ in our state legislature,” Swift said.
“Please convey my heartfelt thanks to them and accept this donation to support the work you and those leaders are doing. I’m so grateful that they’re giving all people a place to worship.”
On 1 June, the first day of Pride Month, Swift wrote an open letter to Tennessee’s Republican Senator Lamar Alexander in support of the Equality Act, an expansion of the Civil Rights Act that prohibits employers from discriminating against anyone because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
Earlier this week, she announced that her new album, Lover, will be released on 23 August
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments