After President Trump signed his executive immigration order last month, Grimes, Sia, and Jack Antonoff did a rock-hard solid for the ACLU and the Council on American-Islamic Relations by matching contributions to the crucial civil rights organizations. Now they’ve set their sights on Texas, which is quietly pushing through a slew of legislation that would strike a heavy blow to the already compromised rights of LGBTQ people.
Jack has written a letter to lawmakers in the Lone Star State letting them know they’re being watched at this critical time by quite few pairs of eyes. Co-signing his letter are not just Grimes and Sia but Ariana Grande, Vic Mensa, Carrie Brownstein, St Vincent, Lady Gaga, Laverne Cox, Gloria Steinem, Zoe Kravitz, Carly Rae Jepsen, Shamir, and Britney Spears.
Two bills (SB6 and HB1362) are very similar to North Carolina’s hyper-controversial HB2, which aims to stop transgender people from using restrooms that align with their gender identity. Other legislation would force teachers to out LGBTQ students to their parents, undermine marriage equality, and strip LGBTQ people of nondiscrimination protections.
“We all have to stand up, even if we’re not from Texas, or LGBTQ — we all have to say that this isn’t OK with us,” Jack tells Billboard. “And I hope the level of talent on this list opens people’s eyes, and particularly that local legislators will realize how important this is — to the people living in Texas and to the people coming in and bringing a lot of money to the economy.” He’s urging fans to read the letter, tweet about it, and call their local senators. “We’re just putting this out there today,” he says. “My gut is that we’re going to see an overwhelmingly supportive response.”
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Text Hannah Ongley
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