White House Slams Taylor Swift's 'Equality Act' Plea - 'Filled with Poison Pills'
Liberal singer faces backlash after pushing Bill in performance
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Liberal singer Taylor Swift 's performance at Monday’s MTV Video Music Awards included an endorsement of the so-called Equality Act for sexual minorities.
But the singer got a mixed reaction from viewers, and also found herself under fire from the White House.
After Swift won the best video award for her hit “You Need to Calm Down," featuring herself and friends standing up to a cartoonish, anti-gay crowd, the singer went political with a public push for the bill’s passage.
White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere responded to Swift's performance by reiterating the Trump administration’s already-public opposition to the bill.
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No one supports discrimination against Americans, Deere said.
But the bill is not the answer, she added.
“The Trump administration absolutely opposes discrimination of any kind and supports the equal treatment of all; however, the House-passed bill in its current form is filled with poison pills that threaten to undermine parental and conscience rights,” Deere said.
If it becomes law, the Democrats’ Equality Act could force a repeat of the dispute in Canada, where a similar measure is forcing women who work in waxing salons to wax transgenders' male genitalia.
The House passed the Equality Act in May with unanimous support from Democrats.
The bill would make “gender identity” a protected category under federal anti-discrimination laws, as it is in Canada.
CNN, of course, lapped up Swift's endorsement of the bill, but there are reasons to oppose it that go beyond feel-good speeches at MTV awards ceremonies.
📹 | The White House responds to Taylor Swift's #EqualityAct petition after she called them out at the #VMAs [@CNN]
— Taylor Swift News (@TSwiftNZ) August 27, 2019
“...the House-passed bill in its current form is filled with poison pills that threaten to undermine parental and conscience rights.”pic.twitter.com/drAsLCbM95
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In May, the Heritage Foundation’s Daily Signal published an essay detailing how the act would intrude on American lives in ways most people, especially its supporters, do not understand.
The essay also notes how the act would affect school classrooms to child custody cases; charities to businesses.
The Bill's name, the “Equality Act” is pleasing to the ear, and is perfectly designed for someone like Swift to run with it, not fully understanding its implications.
But in the real world, outside of the make-believe world of Taylor Swift, the law has real-world consequences.
The White House statement solidified a sober opposition to the bill, echoing the reasons listed in the Heritage essay, those include:
- Freedom of religion
- Freedom of thought
- Freedom of association
The ideas are American god-given rights, and should not be given up because Taylor Swift threw a tantrum.
Last week, Swift vowed to "do everything I can for 2020," pledging to use her "influence" against President Donald Trump and his "disgusting rhetoric."
The singer declared she wants a leader who is pro-abortion and said she thinks President Trump is tearing the country apart.
“We’re a democracy – at least, we’re supposed to be – where you’re allowed to disagree, dissent, debate,” she said.
“I really think that [Trump] thinks this is an autocracy.”
