Student comes out to conservative Christian university with show-stopping Taylor Swift lip sync
Reid Arthur attends George Fox University in Oregon
A student at a Christian university opted to come out to the entire student body with a Taylor Swift lip sync.
Reid Arthur, who attends George Fox University in Oregon, took part in a lip-sync battle contest, opting to perform a mash-up of Swift’s ‘Ready For It?’ and anti-homophobia anthem ‘You Need to Calm Down’.
The student incorporated an outfit reveal into the performance to coincide with the line “Shade never made anybody less gay”, revealing a top with fringe in the colours of the rainbow flag.
Student comes out to university body with Taylor Swift performance.
The performance ended with Arthur and his fellow performers posing with signs saying “God is Love”, “Be Known” and “I Stand Tall”, in the colours of the rainbow, bisexual and asexual flags.
Reid Arthur attends George Fox University in Oregon
Thankfully, the show-stopping performance received the standing ovation and grand prize that it deserved, with the $500 prize money donated to LGBT+ charities The Trevor Project and GLAAD.
The move was a brave step at the university, which maintains official policies stating that “God has intended sexual relations to be reserved for marriage between a man and a woman”.
Allie Schluchter, who took part in the performance, tweeted: “Tonight I helped one of my favourite people come out, and the love and joy that surrounded this moment is going to stick with me for the rest of my life. I’m so proud of you.”
Calls for change after ‘You Need To Calm Down’ lip sync.
The moment was seized upon by students at the university, who urged leaders to ditch its official anti-gay marriage policies.
An open letter on Instagram said: “Tonight our university witnessed a brave student give a performance at Lip Sync that openly drew attention to the way the GFU administration has treated LGBTQ+ issues.
“Right now the school’s policies prohibit LGBTQ+ staff, explicitly only endorse marriage as between a man and a woman, and faculty are not allowed to endorse any LGBTQ+ affirming perspectives.
“I would encourage the GFU leadership to look at the response of the audience and the community tonight and consider what message they are sending through their own reactions and policies.”
It adds: “I would encourage you to listen to the response tonight, listen to the cheers, listen to the fact that the student body voted him the winning act, and understand that students are ready to be talking about this and to support their LGBTQ+ peers, to be out, to be loved, and to be embraced and celebrated.
“We are ready to talk about this, and I believe that as a community we can do better.”
