Photo Credit: Wireimage
Where there's a protest, there's Lady Gaga, willing to lend her loud voice and her weighty name. The singer, who wears her politics on her sleeve, is largely known for her outspoken remarks in support of gay rights. She marched in Washington in solidarity with her gay fans and she has repeatedly spoken out against "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in concert. But now Lady Gaga has set her sights on Arizona's controversial immigration bill.
During a stop in Phoenix, Arizona of her "Monster Ball" tour, Lady Gaga took time out to touch on the pressure she'd received from fellow musicians to pull out from the Arizona gig in protest of the state's hotly-contested law.
"I got a phone call, from a couple of really big rock 'n' rollers, big pop stars, the big rappers and they said, 'We'd like you to boycott Arizona because of SB1070.' And I said, 'You really think that us dumb, f*cking pop stars are gonna collapse the economy of Arizona?' I'll tell you what we have to do about SB1070. We have to be active. We have to actively protest. And the nature of the 'Monster Ball' is to actively protest prejudice, and injustice and that bullsh*t that is put on our society, because you're a superstar, no matter who you are, no matter where you come from and you were born that way!" said Lady Gaga.
The "you're a superstar" bit kind of carried the whole thing off the cliff, but otherwise Gaga made a decent point. She then went on to say that the United States wouldn't be "shit" without immigrants. She should've thrown in a few Italian curse words for good measure. You know, bring a little authenticity to the immigrant experience and rep her latin roots.
While it's refreshing to have a pop star unafraid of waging political warfare, Gaga's form of political activism often seems to involve shrieking and hollering. Gaga can wax poetic and talk about the littlest detail or complexities when it comes to art and fashion, but when she touches on politics, her voice transforms into a fearsome bullhorn that rips nuance and diplomacy into shreds in the name of "NO!" She must be a voracious fan of cable news networks.
