GLAAD, MAREN, HOZIER, BRITTANY STAND WITH "LOVE RISING"

GLAAD has collected video messages of support from artists who attended the recent "Love Rising" LGBTQ+ benefit concert at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Maren Morris, Hozier and Brittany Howard were among those on hand to speak against the anti-LGBTQ+ legislation recently passed in Tennessee, which included a so-called "drag ban" (a federal judge temporarily halted the law last week). GLAAD joined performers—including Sheryl Crow, Morris, Jason Isbell, Hayley Williams, Hozier, Allison Russell, Howard and Brothers Osborne—and recording artists backstage to amplify their heartfelt points of view.

“Since I was a little girl, the drag community has inspired me, before I even really knew what it was,” Morris said. “I think that it's just such a shame to make people feel unwelcome in a place that has birthed so much creativity in this town. And it's also a shame because I know that Tennessee is better than this, and I love living here, but I also really sympathize with my gay friends right now who are leaving in droves.

“Anti-LGBTQ legislators know we've already won, and that's why they're being so negative and harmful, because they know that they have lost in the court of public opinion, in the court of love. I think we just have to be loud. Keep getting even better with our arts. That goes for movies, music, culture, any part of it. We are the makers here and I think that's why they're so afraid. Go support your local drag artists because they need us right now.”

Dubbed “a celebration of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” "Love Rising" doubled as a fundraiser for the Tennessee Equality Project, inclusion tennessee, Out Memphis and the Tennessee Pride Chamber in partnership with the Looking Out Foundation.

“I'm here in solidarity," Hozier said in his dreamy Irish accent. "I have been the beneficiary of so much support from the queer community, from the LGBTQ+ community, and I really see that; I really feel that. It's important for anybody with a conscience, anybody who wants to live in a free society, or believes in the spirit of democracy, to stand up and show support and solidarity, and that's what I'm here to do.”

Howard added, “I know that drag has saved people. Drag has been able to get people to be who they really are and know that it's okay. There are families around drag. And drag is beautiful. In this community, people are saying, 'Shine who you are, love each other, more love, more compassion, more understanding.' So I just spend all my time over here being showered with love, as well as giving out love.”

In related news, Kelsea Ballerini, a Tennessee native, used Sunday’s (4/2) CMT Awards in Austin, Texas, to bravely demonstrate against the anti-LGBTQ+ laws in her home state (such laws are also pending in Texas); taking the stage to perform "If You Go Down (I'm Goin' Down Too),” Ballerini surrounded herself with an army of drag queens, garnering applause from the queer community—and criticism from her right-leaning fans.

Watch the "Love Rising" backstage interviews conducted by GLAAD excerpted above in their entirety and connect with the august org here. You'll be glad you did (*wink*).