From the Hollywood Reporter:

Taylor Swift opened the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards on Monday with performances of “You Need to Calm Down” and “Lover.” The performance began with Swift, Todrick Hall and Dexter Mayfield sitting on lounge chairs as she sang the opening lines to “You Need to Calm Down.”

Dancers dressed in colorful ensembles moved around the stage before the drag queens featured in the music video appeared next to Swift as she sang the anti-hate anthem. The first number concluded with the words “Equality Act” largely written behind the performers.

Swift has been an advocate for the Equality Act and has urged her followers to sign a petition in its favor on social media. The House of Representatives passed legislation in May that protects those living in states where it’s legal to discriminate based on sexual orientation and gender identity when it comes to housing, employment and other services.