Lady Gaga defends abortion and gay rights at Washington, DC show
“I pray that this country will speak up, that we will stick together, and that we will not stop until it’s right"
Lady Gaga spoke out about abortion and gay rights during her Chromatica Ball show in Washington, DC on Monday (8 August).
The singer, who this week embarked on the US leg of her Chromatica Ball tour, dedicated a piano-led version of ‘The Edge Of Glory’ to “every woman in America” who “now has to worry about her body if she get pregnant”.
She continued: “I pray that this country will speak up, that we will stick together, and that we will not stop until it’s right.”
You can watch fan-shot footage of the poignant moment below.
“We just gotta keep believing it’s gonna be okay,” she said during the song. “What about all the women who are raped? what about all the women that are dying giving childbirth?”
“I didn’t mean to be like a downer,” she said before finishing the song. “But there’s some s*** that’s more important than show business.”
Elsewhere in the set, Gaga also dedicated queer anthem ‘Born This Way’ to the LGBTQ+ community. “This might not be the national anthem, but it’s our national anthem! They better not try to mess with gay marriage in this country!” she said (via Variety).
Gaga is the latest musician to make a statement about abortion rights during a live show following the overturning of Roe v Wade in June, a decision which removed the constitutional right to an abortion.
Lily Allen and Olivia Rodrigo made headlines in June after they performed Allen’s song ‘Fuck You’ at Glastonbury, dedicated to the members of the Supreme Court who voted to overturn the landmark decision.
Headliner Billie Eilish also said it was a “really, really dark day for women” in the US during her set, and has since released new song ‘TV’, which includes the lyrics: “The internet’s gone wild watching movie stars on trial / While they’re overturning Roe v. Wade,” also a reference to the recent Johnny Depp and Amber Heard defamation trial.
In June, Halsey delivered an impassioned speech about reproductive rights during a show in Phoenix, Arizona.
“I know that we want to sit at home and we want to wait for some revolutionary to come along, to make a difference, but no one is fucking coming,” they said at the Ak-Chin Pavilion amphitheatre.
“Nobody is f****** coming. It is up to every single one of you, myself, every single person in this building to do our fucking part – to protect bodily autonomy and bodily integrity. To protect medical privacy.”
Halsey then led a call and response of “my body”, to which the crowd responded “my choice”.