Todrick Hall talks about being friends with Taylor Swift and helping her use her voice to support the LGBT community
He has always shown his support for Taylor Swift on social media.
And Todrick Hall said being friends with the singer is one of his “favourite things he’s done” as he discussed their friendship with Attitude magazine‘s February issue on Friday.
Hall, 34, told the publication he was grateful he could help her learn to “use her voice” for good causes, such as in support of the LGBT community. He explained that he enjoyed being “able to help her realise that using her voice is a humongous instrument that is able to change the minds of those who, without her, may have never looked at gay people as actual people.”
“When I’m at a club or a concert and I hear people scream the line, ‘…shade never made anyone less gay,’” he added, referring to Taylor’s song, You Need To Calm Down, which he starred in and also co-executive produced.
Released during Pride month, Taylor’s song came on the heels of her endorsement of the pro-LGBT Equality Act. The bill, which would add LGBT protections to the Civil Rights Act, has passed in the House Of Representatives and is headed to the Senate.
Taylor also released an open letter at the start of June urging Lamar Alexander, a GOP Senator from her state of residence Tennessee, to vote in favour of the bill.
Todrick continued: “I can’t help but take a little bit of ownership of the fact that I helped her realise how powerful it would be for her to make a statement like that. I always wanted to handle the situation delicately because it’s not my place to tell someone else when it’s the right time for them to talk about something.
“All I really wanted her to know was that, as somebody who was a bystander, I didn’t know how comfortable she was with [my sexuality], and I was apprehensive about fully opening up to her.”
Of how he broached the topic with Taylor, Todrick said: “She was talking one day about having kids and I asked her: ‘What would you do if your child was to tell you that they are gay?’
“She looked at me and was like, ‘Then they would be gay. That would be no big deal. It’s not something that I would think about. I would love them and support them with whatever they wanted to do.’
“At that point, I pointed out: ‘It’s important that you let people know that you feel this way.’ Taylor is just so about love.”
Taylor’s song reportedly saw a spike in donations to the LGBT advocacy group GLAAD (Gay And Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation).
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6 Comments
Mandy
January 04, 08:42This is actually a lesson to us all in the community. To all those who stay silent at the family dinner table when everyone is being homophobic. To those who hang out with friends who talk trash about gay people. To those who just exist in spaces where prejudice against LGBT people thrive without saying anything.
In 2020, please have a voice. Say something. Interrupt the homophobia. Check the prejudice. Do not let the “guilt” you feel about your sexuality rob you of the voice to say to a friend or family member, “Hey, you can’t say this about gay people. They’re human beings too, deserving of their human rights.”
Todrick Hall got one of the most powerful women in the world to finally take a stand against homophobia. How much more you in your relatively smaller spaces?
Pink Panther
January 04, 08:48ALL. OF. THIS!!! ??
Delle
January 04, 09:23Preach!
*waving my gay flag energetically*
Mitch
January 04, 14:04??????????????????
Mandy, what is the name of the man you want to marry? Let me tell my Baba to work his magic.
In short eh, tell me another thing you want. You deserve more than just the man of your dreams for this comment.
Malik
January 05, 12:46Interrupt the homophobia.
Todrick Hall Speaks Out About The Very Public Allegations He Faced Online, Saying He’ll “Sleep With One Eye Open” – KitoDiaries
January 06, 07:12[…] the Attitude February publication, he also talked about his friendship with Taylor Swift and how he helped her use her voice in support of the LGBT […]