Madonna says ‘I will always stand for the gays’ during moving tribute for Pulse shooting victims
"The gays have always stood for me," Madonna said to rapturous applause on Tuesday.
Ever the definition of what it means to be an ally, Madonna has stated “I will always stand for the gays” during a moving tribute to the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting at a concert in Miami.
On Tuesday (9 April) the ‘Vogue’ singer brought her The Celebration Tour to the Florida city. During the show, she paused the show to honour the 49 people who died during the 2016 shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando.
In video captured at the Kaseya Center on Tuesday, Madonna said: “I want to draw attention to that moment because nightclubs and music and dance are what bring us together. They shouldn’t be places or things that we do that bring us sadness and tragedy and murder and death and pain and suffering and trauma. But unfortunately, human beings are still stuck in some kind of a rut.”
“My job is to bring people together, to make people dance, to make people happy” – Madonna
She then said: “I will always stand for the gays, always, because the gays have always stood for me,” to rapturous applause. Madonna went on to call the Pulse shooting “the biggest terrorist attack on America after 9/11.” Audibly emotional she also said: “I make dance music. My job is to bring people together, to make people dance, to make people happy, to not judge. This shit is not supposed to happen. Don’t forget about it.”
Throughout her Celebration Tour Madonna has taken the opportunity to show her support and allyship of the LGBTQ+ community. This has involved tributes to people lost during the HIV/Aids crisis as well as celebrating ballroom culture during ‘Vogue’. For some of these sections she has been joined by LGBTQ+ celebrities, most recently Ricky Martin.
In March, Madonna helped make pop history by inviting fellow gay icon Kylie Minogue to join her onstage. The two performed an acapella version of ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head’ and a slowed-down take on ‘I Will Survive’ as an early celebration of International Women’s Day.
The Celebration Tour kicked off last October at the O2 in London and will conclude on 4 May with a free gig on Copacabana Beach in Brazil.