Taylor Swift blasts ‘brutal’ 2020 census for excluding and erasing trans and non-binary people
Taylor Swift said erasing the non-binary community gives “every excuse” not to support it. (Getty)
LGBT+ advocate and singer songwriter Taylor Swift has blasted the US census for only having two gender options.
The star made the comments in a pre-recorded video for Pride Live.
“I got my census the other day and there were two choices for gender: male and female,” she said.
“And that erasure was so upsetting to me, the erasure of transgender and non-binary people, and when you don’t collect information on a group of people that means you have every excuse in the world not to support them.”
The population of trans and non-binary people in the US – and in most countries – is unknown, precisely because it’s not collected.
The US census, which is carried out once every decade, is the most comprehensive survey about the demographic makeup of the country.
Swift added: “When you don’t collect data on a community that’s a really brutal way of dismissing them.”
The Lover singer is a vocal supporter of the LGBT+ community.
Can’t wait to watch @Disclosure_Doc on @netflix today!! Executive produced by @Lavernecox who is extraordinary 💕💕💕 Who else is gonna watch?! pic.twitter.com/tYnZXfYzk5
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 19, 2020
Taylor Swift recently tweeted about watching Laverne Cox’s new Netflix documentary, Disclosure, about Hollywood’s depiction of transgender people, as well as celebrating the historic Supreme Court verdict two weeks ago that said it’s illegal to fire workers for being gay or transgender.
YES!! Thank you to the Supreme Court Justices who voted in favor and all the advocates who have fought so hard for this! We still have a long way to go to reach equality, but this is a beautiful step forward. 🌈❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🌈 https://t.co/zTd3i5P2TL— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 15, 2020
In the video, Swift also praised the Stonewall Inn for continuing to be “such a symbol of rebellion in the face of oppression”.
She added: “We had a really good step forward with the Supreme Court ruling based on discrimination and sex but we still have so far to go in terms of equality and protections for LGBT+ people and people in the trans community.
Taylor Swift concluded: “We need to make sure we elect people who care about all communities.”
Her comments come after six trans and non-binary Democrat candidates in New York were disqualified from standing to represent their communities because they don’t identify as male or female.
