Taylor Swift called on The White House to respond to a petition on the Equality Act for LGBTQ rights as she picked up the award for Video Of The Year at the MTV Video Music Awards Monday night.
The song and video for "You Need To Calm Down" celebrates the LGBTQ community and calls out its haters.
At the end of the video, Swift calls on fans to sign a petition on Change.org. The petition asks the U.S. Senate to take up the Equality act "which would protect LGBTQ people from discrimination in their places of work, homes, schools, and other public accommodations.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Equality Act, which amends the 1964 Civil Rights Act to include protections for sexual orientation and gender identity, in May.
"It now has half a million signatures, which is five times the amount that it would need to warrant a response from the White House," Swift said. She then looked at her wrist as if she was checking her watch, an indication that the clock was ticking.
What Swift may be referring to is the "We The People" petition website, which was started by The White House during President Barack Obama's administration. The site states that if 100,000 signatures are gathered within 30 days, The White House will issue an official response within 60 days.
However, Swift's petition is on Change.org, not the "We The People" site, so it's not clear if The White House will grant her a response.
Swift said Video Of The Year was voted on by the fans, so the fact that this video with its message was a statement.
"In this video several points were made, so you voting for this video means that you want a world, where we're all treated equally under the law, regardless of who we love, regardless of how we identify," she said.