reclaim your crown ♕

I’m writing this post about the upcoming midterm elections on November 6th, in which I’ll be voting in the state of Tennessee. In the past I’ve been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now.  I always have and always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve in this country. I believe in the fight for LGBTQ rights, and that any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender is WRONG. I believe that the systemic racism we still see in this country towards people of color is terrifying, sickening and prevalent.

I cannot vote for someone who will not be willing to fight for dignity for ALL Americans, no matter their skin color, gender or who they love.  Running for Senate in the state of Tennessee is a woman named Marsha Blackburn. As much as I have in the past and would like to continue voting for women in office, I cannot support Marsha Blackburn. Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me. She voted against equal pay for women. She voted against the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which attempts to protect women from domestic violence, stalking, and date rape. She believes businesses have a right to refuse service to gay couples. She also believes they should not have the right to marry. These are not MY Tennessee values. I will be voting for Phil Bredesen for Senate and Jim Cooper for House of Representatives.  Please, please educate yourself on the candidates running in your state and vote based on who most closely represents your values. For a lot of us, we may never find a candidate or party with whom we agree 100% on every issue, but we have to vote anyway.

I rarely post on here anymore, quite simply because I don’t have the time, but firstly I wanted to say I have been a British fan of yours for many years. I fell in love with Speak Now, I camped in a car park at 3am to watch you perform at Westfield in London, and most recently I travelled across the UK and Ireland to see your reputation Tour. Your music is just one aspect of why I became a fan. 

Another thing I admired was that you previously stayed silent on politics, even being quoted as saying ‘I don’t talk about politics because it might influence people - and I don’t think that I know enough in life to be telling people who to vote for’. This post has me conflicted for a number of reasons. 

Before I start, I’d like to say that the two major parties in the UK and US are actually very different in where they sit on the right-left political spectrum, with the Dems falling closer to the British right-wing party (which sits more central, and is the one I support) than the left-wing party. I actually have no idea where I would sit in US politics because of these differences, and like you say there is unlikely to be a candidate you agree with 100%. As another aside, I completely agree with the social issues which have factored into your vote as stated in your post, and I would argue it’s difficult for anyone to disagree.

Firstly, I appreciate that you have said we should educate ourselves before voting rather than just listening to what you’ve said. This is something I have ensured I do, rather than blindly going along with who my friends or celebrities I admire vote for. I also appreciate that you have clearly outlined the issues that informed your decision, and that you’re encouraging others to do the same.  

However, I have been unfollowed, blocked and excluded from a group of fans I was previously friends with for expressing my political views. From my perspective, I was (and am still happy) to have friends with completely different views to me, as it widens my perspective and allows me to remain more impartial. Despite explaining why I hold the views I do, making it clear what I valued and disagreed with, I felt uncomfortable attending your shows this summer knowing I would see these fans because of the comments I received a year prior. I actually valued reputation for this reason; it showed me that the untrue comments people were making about me didn’t matter. 

I see things similar to what I experienced on a daily basis on twitter; your left leaning fans are repeatedly abusive, patronising and/or vicious towards your right leaning fans. As a moderate example, I have even seen your Democrat supporting followers attack LGBT Republican fans for their political opinions, telling them they’re ‘dumb as fuck’. I worry that your post, while imo trying to remain as centrist as possible, will now be used as ammunition for an increased number of these instances. This fear was felt more strongly when I saw the post you liked (you on stage kicking ‘a Republican’) - while I can see the funny side of this, when you have a large following of republican fans who receive intimidating and aggressive messages on social media, I actually found this hard to see. I am already seeing large numbers of new posts that I know would make me feel upset and uncomfortable if I were a Republican/if your post related to British politics. 

Looking outside your fan base, it is also clear that while standing up for the human rights you discuss in your post, some people go about this in the wrong way. In the last few months there have been several news stories about Republicans receiving death threats. I don’t believe it was your intention, but using the words ‘appalling’ and ‘terrifies’ to describe the Republican’s views may result in your followers viewing all Republicans that way, despite there being evidence that would suggest Republicans feel the same way about Democrats, such as those receiving death threats. 

I guess one of the consequences of growing up in the public eye and with fans who have grown up alongside you means it is increasingly hard to stay silent on such issues, but I hope that you will consider this political bullying (in particular from, but not limited to, the left) that goes on within your fan base when you speak out on politics. I don’t think it’s, and hope it isn’t, something that you would be proud of. As someone who promotes inclusivity and independent thinking, it seems wrong that some of your fans are completely excluded for thinking for themselves. 

That isn’t to say I think you should stay silent, because that would a) be pretty weird, b) make me a dictator and c) mean you weren’t being yourself, but I just hope you can appreciate that politics is more divisive than ever and has already caused conflict within your fan base. From someone who learnt to accept who they are and stay true to themselves, in part, through you, I would be really disappointed if I felt increasingly marginalised over things I do and don’t believe in, or if I get (even more) excluded from your music and fan base as a result of you speaking out. I hope that in speaking out you encourage us all to educate ourselves and act in a civil manner towards each other, rather than encouraging the already prevalent in-group out-group mentality.

“I Love Everything About You But Not So Much You”