The music video for Taylor Swift’s song “You Need to Calm Down” just dropped, but Twitter is doing anything but calming down. The lyrics were already overtly anti homophobia , but the video dials that up to, like, a thousand (in case they were just too subtle?!). With a rainbow trailer park and about a hundred celebrities , the video shows Taytay and her colorful queer friends (and Katy Perry, because in case you hadn’t heard, their feud is over ) chillin’ and being fabulous whilst getting yelled at by a bunch of sign-wielding bumpkins (THE HOMOPHOBES). However, people are far from okay with how both sides are being stereotyped in a mere three and a half minutes.

The anti-LGBTQ+ lewk

About halfway through the video, we are introduced to the anti-LGBTQ+ crowd protesting Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Justin Mikita’s fake wedding. Of course, they’re portrayed with about as much nuance as the lyrics of the song. Seriously, look at this guy:

Taylor Swift Vevo

Oof.

We even see a sign that says “GET A BRAIN MORANS” multiple times, because IRONY! It is you, toothless, overall-clad protestors, who are the fools!

This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

So @taylorswift13 new song/video is calming down and not throwing shade yet she stereotypes the protesters...guess calming down only applies if you agree with her views. #disappointed — Jaclyn Drager (@EastonsMom28) June 17, 2019

This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Did she really need the lazy classist stereotype? Last time I checked, there were plenty of pretty polished people spewing intolerance too. https://t.co/3ncKCCmtXa — Sarah Sobieraj (@sobieraj) June 17, 2019

The implication is that it’s the backward-country types who are the real villains here (admittedly, saying “implication” is a little generous—this whole video is so on the nose that it could knock me out). However, as much as I’d *love* to smugly say it is, that stereotype is far from true. As Queer Eye’s Fab Five’s (who also star in this video) OWN SHOW DEMONSTRATES, even being the most crimson of rednecks does not mean you are also a hateful person. Also, our real threat isn’t always the aggro protestors: The suit-wearing, office-holding bigots can be even more dangerous.

This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

So Taylor Swift decided to do a video about acceptance while portraying Christians as only white Neanderthals with missing teeth. Way to bust stereotypes, Taylor!



A+ ya moron. — Jimni27 (@jimni27) June 17, 2019

Rainbows! Glitter! Pride!



The sign carriers are in stark contrast to our video’s hero, Taylor Swi—I mean, the LGBTQ+ community, of course! There are so many drag queens in this video that I can basically taste the hairspray from here. As fabulous as this all is, this also conforms to plenty of stereotypes about Pride. For one, the queer male celebs way outnumber queer female celebs (Alexa, what is a lesbian?). Moreover, at a time when there are plenty of moves to bring Pride back to its activist roots, perhaps a video showing the LGBTQ+ community as a massive party is a little tone-deaf?

This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Taylor Swift attaching herself to the LGBT community and pretty much comparing the criticism she's received to homophobia really leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It's good that she's such an outspoken ally, but the way she handles it leaves me conflicted. — Jack🥳 (@__fury_) June 17, 2019

Either way, the petition linked at the end of the video has more than 200,000 signatures, so at least stereotypes are good for something. And in the end, there are SO MANY gushing reactions from the queer community sprinkled among the angry ones.

This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

The gayest video of all time. Thank you Taylor Swift for supporting us and being such an amazing ally. Take a second to sign the petition on https://t.co/480AgeiOao #YNTCD #pridemonth 🌈🌈🌈 https://t.co/SlazEVPio9 — jeremy baldwin (@jer_2489) June 17, 2019

Taylor, despite the backlash, is doing a positive thing at the end of the day. And we can’t hate on that.

This content is imported from {embed-name}. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Natasha Jokic Natasha Jokić is one of Cosmo’s 2019 summer editorial interns.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io