The most iconic LGBTQ+ moments from Taylor Swift’s epic Eras Tour as it finally comes to an end
Taylor Swift pictured at her last show in Vancouver. She has performed in 19 countries over 21 months. (Getty)
It’s the end of an(other) era. Sadly, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour has finally come to a close after 149 concerts spanning 19 countries and five continents over 21 months.
The last show of the Eras Tour took place in Vancouver’s BC Place stadium on Sunday (December 8) and was attended by over 60,000 fans. After singing “All Too Well”, Swift stopped her performance to thank her audience for making this tour “the most exciting, powerful, electrifying, intense, most challenging” of her life.
The Eras Tour began in Arizona in March 2023, with over 10.1 million tickets sold in total, becoming the first tour in history to surpass $1bn (£786m) in ticket sales.
The show featured a 44-song setlist lasting over three hours that covered all of Swift’s “eras” from the last 15 years as well as two surprise songs each night and multiple guest stars.
The Eras Tour was a mammoth success and featured a lot of heartwarming moments, including several that supported the LGBTQ+ community. Here are some of the highlights.
Taylor Swift rallies against anti-LGBTQ+ legislation
At her Chicago show in June 2023, Swift took time out of her set list to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and spoke out against the wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in the US.
After performing “You Need To Calm Down”, she stayed on stage to say: “I wish that every place was safe and beautiful for people in the LGBTQ community.”
She said that she knows many fans are living “authentically and beautifully” as themselves and wants to ensure that the Eras Tour is a “safe, celebratory space” for them.
“We can’t talk about Pride without talking about pain. Right now and in recent years, there have been so many harmful pieces of legislation that have put people in the LGBTQ and queer community at risk. It’s painful for everyone. Every ally, every loved one, every person in these communities,” Swift continued.
She added that it is these issues to stay vocal during election cycles and to consider whether candidates are “allies” before voting for them.
happy pride month @taylorswift13 🫶🏻
— Marissa (Mo) 🤍 (@bestwornapology) June 3, 2023
i love you SO much! thank you always standing up for your lgbtqia fans and for being on the right side of history ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜#ChicagoTSTheErasTour pic.twitter.com/AckXJRF05m
Taylor Swift wished the LGBTQ+ community a “Happy Pride Month”
Swift kicked off the European leg of The Eras Tour in May of this year with a show in Paris and when June rolled around, she had moved on to Lyon.
On June 2, Swift shouted “Happy Pride Month, Lyon” while performing her 2019 hit “You Need To Calm Down”, widely known as a gay anthem due to its themes of supporting LGBTQ+ rights.
Swift has long been an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community and has many LGBTQ+ fans.
TAYLOR SAYING HAPPY PRIDE MONTH #LyonTSTheErasTour pic.twitter.com/DqTomiQzDn
— nilu (@dearpaitence) June 2, 2024
Queer couples get engaged during “Love Story”
It’s become a tradition for Swiftie couples to propose during the final chorus of the romantic song “Love Story” during the Eras Tour.
In Edinburgh, six couples got engaged while Swift was performing the hit, including two queer women to whom Swift offered her congratulations.
Swift was grateful that the sun hadn’t set yet, allowing her to see the proposal from the stage, calling it “amazing.”
She said to the couple: “Thanks for doing that at my concert, that’s a big moment – huge!”
Then in London in August, two women in one of the seating areas got engaged too.
As Taylor sings: “Is this in my head? I don’t know what to think. He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring and said, ‘Marry me, Juliet’,” a woman in a mauve tulle dress gets down on one knee and pops the question.
Her partner nods and then the pair hug and sway together for the rest of the song, which was filmed by bystanders in the area.
Also, Taylor Swift brought in a litany of queer guests
Over 149 shows, Swift had a number of guest appearances from her famous friends – and many of them are either queer themselves or are considered to be gay icons by the LGBTQ+ community.
When Swift announced the Eras Tour, Swift enlisted nine opening acts for the US leg, which included Paramore, Phoebe Bridgers, Beabadoobee, Girl in Red, Haim, MUNA, GAYLE, OWENN, and Gracie Abrams.
From the beginning, people said the chosen openers were curated with the LGBTQ+ community in mind. One person wrote that it was a “HUGE day for gay and annoying people” while another said “she did this for the lesbians.”
Girl in Red – also known as Marie Ringheim – in particular has become a calling card for lesbians, and the phrase “do you listen to Girl in Red” has been adopted as a discreet way to ask a woman if she’s LGBTQ+.
Taylor Swift previously congratulated the Norwegian singer for her album back in 2022, which sent queer Swifties into a spiral as they realised that Swift herself listens to Girl in Red.
MUNA is also a queer band, and when the announcement came about, the band’s X account posted a photo of themselves overlayed on the Midnights album cover and captioning it with: “Gay for Tay.”
The Eras tour has certainly been a wild, and long, ride. Thanks for all of the queer memories, Taylor.
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