Swift donates $113,000 to fight anti-LGBTQ bills

Singer Taylor Swift has donated $113,000 to fight anti-LGBTQ legislation in her home state of Tennessee.

On Monday, the singer donated $113,000 to LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) advocacy group called the Tennessee Equality Project (TEP), reports deadline.com.

Chris Sanders, TEP's executive director, announced the donation through a Facebook post.

"Taylor Swift has been a long-time ally to the LGBTQ community," Sanders wrote in the post, which included an image of the letter that accompanied Swift's donation.

"She sees our struggle in Tennessee and continues to add her voice with so many good people, including religious leaders, who are speaking out for love in the face of fear."

Swift said in the letter, dated April 8, that she felt "inspired" by the organisation's work combating a proposed series of anti-LGBTQ bills in the Tennessee General Assembly.

TEP describes the bills as a "slate of hate" and say they "promote state-sanctioned discrimination".

According to variety.com, the legislation being considered includes ones that allow private adoption agencies to raise religious and moral objections over prospective parents, and another that prevents state and local governments from taking actions against a business based on its "internal policies".

Other legislation is aimed at transgender individuals, including one that requires the state to defend school districts that require students to use the bathroom of their assigned sex at birth.

--IANS

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