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I’m enchanted to announce my next tour:  Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour, a journey through the musical eras of my career (past and present!) The first leg of the tour will be in stadiums across the US, with international dates to be announced as soon as we can! Feeling like the luckiest person alive because I get to take these brilliant artists out on tour with me: Paramore, beabadoobee, Phoebe Bridgers, girl in red, MUNA, HAIM, GAYLE, Gracie Abrams and OWENN. I can’t WAIT to see your gorgeous faces out there. It’s been a long time coming 🥰

Loving on my corgi Mylo always turns a bad day right around.

Side note: I’m feeling a bit defeated from stress from work. I manage over five-hundred student orgs, supervise a staff of 6, and am the campus admin for an involvement platform for 40,000 users. And I am TIRED.

I’m SO SO SO happy for all the Swifties tonight in London getting to experience all of @taylorswift’s love, baked treats, and the HONOR of being one of the first to hear Lover. I can’t imagine what a life-changing evening that must be.

I really hope that happens for me someday. Taylor has meant so much to over the past 12/13 years. Each album always seem to come out at the exact time that I need it in my life. Fearless helped me come out to my family and friends when I was just 14 years old. Speak Now helped me past my first love. Red took me into adulthood and helped me with a even bigger heart break. Same to 1989. By the time Reputation came out, I really learned the value of loving myself and making romantic relationships a smaller part of my reality. Everyone, and I mean everyone, who knows me, knows what a loyal and dedicated fan I am. It’s weird for someone to feel like a friend who you’ve never met. (That sounds SUPER weird, but the music has SAVED me)

I just really want the opportunity to genuinely thank her for the impact she’s had on my life. For the impact she’s having on younger generations for using her platform to advocate for Queer folx. That would have meant everything to me when I was in the closet.

YOU guys made Taylor’s + Brendon’s ME! riaa Certified Platinum!! 🌈

I have a bit of serious, but important discussion to have on this post. 

*Trigger warning for those who may have been affected by suicide in their lives.*

The #1 cause of death among minors in the state of Utah is suicide. Compare that to national stats on suicide among queer folx, and you can imagine it is at crisis levels for queer youth in this state. Among a number of factors, growing up in rural areas (without always having reliable internet connections), in a state with heavy shame culture, and a lack of mental health awareness and resources can create a deep sense of urgency and crisis for youth experiencing mental issues, especially those resulting from lack of family and social networks because of your sexuality and gender identity. 

This post is going to look at surface level data on internet search for the Equality and how I think @taylorswift​ is influencing folx in Utah. 

If you look at internet searches nationwide for the Equality Act (a piece of federal legislation that would grant equal protections and rights under the law for ALL people, including Queer folx), you’ll notice a dramatic spike around May 31/June 1, which is when @taylorswift​ used her platform to create a petition for this piece of legislative. Another small spike around June 14th when the new single drops

When you utilize those dates for the spike and break it up by state, Utah is among the top 3.

Correlate that same search data with @taylorswift​, and Utah is the among the top 2 searching for the Equality Act in conjuction with Taylor Swift.

Now, I don’t mean to be dramatic. Or try to imply that Taylor is directly, single-handedly “saving lives.” But this data shows Taylor is having a MAJOR influence in Utah in terms of internet searches for the Equality Act. Folks in this state are actively searching what this act is BECAUSE OF HER ADVOCACY WORK. The search data here in Utah for the Equality Act and @taylorswift​ give me immense hope that she is having a huge impact among queer youth and their families. It gives me hope that the people of Utah are learning about key civil rights for Queer folks.

I did not grow up in this state. But I work with a lot of young adults who tell me what it was like to grow up here. And I’ve volunteered for organizations in Utah whose purpose are to give love and support to queer folx & families. I hear the desperation in their stories for acceptance and love. And if Taylor is having an impact on that, she is even more incredible than I could have ever imagined. And I’ve been a stan since the self-titled album when I was in 7th grade. 

Thank you, @taylorswift. You are impacting people in ways that I don’t think you can possibly fathom. @taylornation