Taylor Swift’s new single ‘You Need To Calm Down’ includes the pithy, pro-queer lyric: “Shade never made anybody less gay!” And on Friday night, she made a surprise appearance at iconic New York City LGBTQ venue the Stonewall Inn, performing an acoustic version of ‘Shake It Off’ accompanied by Modern Family‘s Jesse Tyler Ferguson. It turns out this was just the beginning of Swift’s Pride Month allyship drive, because the just-released video for ‘You Need To Calm Down’ features a veritable ‘who’s who’ of American queer pop culture. Here are the all ways Taylor really Prides it up.
The video begins with a reference to an iconic quote from longtime LGBTQ icon Cher.
I CAN’T CALM DOWN! @taylorswift13 PUT @cher’s QUOTE IN THE #YouNeedToCalmDown MUSIC VIDEO!!!! QUEENS STANNING QUEENS. ? #YouNeedToCalmDownMusicVideo @taylornation13 pic.twitter.com/qZAbXseIrb
— Chana Benson ? (@somedayactress) June 17, 2019
It includes cameos from RuPaul, Ellen DeGeneres, Adam Lambert and Hayley Kiyoko – who, some fans reckon, might be teasing a Taylor collab.
HAYLEY KIYOKO FIRES THE ARROW STRAIGHT TO THE BULLSEYE THAT IS NUMBER 5…IS TRACK 5 A COLLAB WITH HAYLEY? OMG IT IS ISNT IT? ? #LOVER #YMTCDMusicVideo @taylorswift13 @HayleyKiyoko pic.twitter.com/Trra1JabDz
— Amelia Saleta (@ASaleta) June 17, 2019
Queer Eye‘s Fab Five pop up, too.
.@tanfrance you slayed that scene henny. Thank you so much. ☕️❤️ #YouNeedToCalmDown #YouNeedToCalmDownMusicVideo @taylornation13 @taylorswift13 @QueerEye pic.twitter.com/NVM3WZlsBH
— laura ▽? (@lauraisatiger) June 17, 2019
As do Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon, Pose‘s Billy Porter, actor Chester Lockhart, YouTuber-choreographer Todrick Hall, author Hannah Hart and Orange Is The New Black‘s Laverne Cox.
And queer, plus-size model Dexter Mayfield takes centre-stage in one of many sequences with an almost hyper-real rainbow colour palette.
Jesse Tyler Ferguson kisses his husband Justin Mikita in a show of support for equal marriage.
And a load of RuPaul’s Drag Race alumni portray Taylor and her fellow pop divas.
Fun fact: Jade Jolie, the queen who plays Taylor, also portrayed the ‘Blank Space’ singer on the show’s ‘Snatch Game’ segment.
Queens do RuPaul Drag Race no clipe da Taylor Swift:
Ariana Grande: Tatiana
Lady Gaga: Trinity The Tuck
Taylor Swift: Jade Jolie
Katy Perry: Adore Delano
Nicki Minaj: A'Keria
Adele: Delta Work
Cardi B: Trinity K. Bonet
Beyoncé: Riley KnoxxOBRIGADO POR TUDO#YNTCDMusicVideo pic.twitter.com/ckrSYNHJ64
— iago (@imperioreality) June 17, 2019
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The video also not-so-subtly implies that anti-gay protestors are ignorant bigots who can’t spell.
Ryan Reynolds, who isn’t LGBTQ, makes a cameo towards the end.
And if you look closely, you can see that he’s painting the Stonewall Inn.
And it ends with a reconciliation between Taylor and Katy Perry.
Is this gay? Not really, but maybe they sang ‘Born This Way’ together at a karaoke bar after the shoot.
A happy meal ? ? ? pic.twitter.com/hPAbOZEsKF
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 17, 2019
But is Taylor a gay icon yet? Not everyone is entirely convinced…
https://twitter.com/stankyhat/status/1140627087935660034?s=20
https://twitter.com/QueenBlair28/status/1140628832887742465?s=20
https://twitter.com/pinotgrigioguy/status/1140614420302913538?s=20
The video ends by asking fans to sign a petition for Senate support of the Equality Act. A message on screen reads: “Let’s show our pride by demanding that, on a national level, our laws truly treat all of our citizens equally.” Taylor has already put her money where her mouth is by donating $113,000 to the Tennessee Equality Project, which advocates for LGBTQ rights in the state where she launched her career. Now she’s using the biggest platform she has – a music video stuffed with starry cameos – to drive her message home hard.