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Ariana Grande throws down $1.5M to fight GOP attacks on trans youth

Ariana Grande throws down $1.5M to fight GOP attacks on trans youth
Photo: Shutterstock

Pop star Ariana Grande isn’t shy about advocating for her values. She’s a particularly strong ally for the LGBTQ community.

And with transgender youth under attack by Republicans nationwide, she’s putting her money where her mouth is with a $1.5 million donation and a plea to fans and supporters to raise a matching amount online.

Related: Ariana Grande casually dropped into a Texas gay bar to catch the drag show

The Grammy-winning singer is a global phenomenon with fans worldwide using her music and messages to push for progressive values. Over 100,000 Filipinos sang Grande’s “Break Free” in the streets to oppose fascism last week.

But she’s going a step beyond simply issuing a social media condemnation of the slew of anti-transgender legislation being pushed by Republicans nationwide.

Grande established the Protect & Defend Trans Youth Fund and she forked over the money to get it started.

“Right now there are hundreds of disgraceful bills pending in state legislature that target trans youth and aim to curb their rights,” Grande wrote in an Instagram post to her 302 million followers. She said the fund will “support organizations providing direct services and advocating for the rights of trans youth.”

“This will provide critical funds to organizations advocating for the rights of trans youth.”

Eighteen groups will benefit from the cash, including Equality Florida, the Black Trans Advocacy Coalition, Southern Arizona Gender Alliance, and the Tennessee Equality Project.

So far the effort has raised an extra $435,000.

On last year’s season of The Voice, Grande coached trans singer Sasha Allen and his father, Jim. One of the few trans contestants in the show’s history, Allen wasn’t shy about advocating for trans youth live on one of the nation’s biggest television shows.

“To every trans kid out there who still thinks there’s no way, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel,” he said after one performance.

He ended by loudly proclaiming, “Trans rights!”

 

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