ABOVE: Taylor Swift, photo via Swift’s Facebook page.
When Reid Arthur used Taylor Swift’s music to publicly come out at his university last week, he had no idea the pop star herself would personally voice her support.
Arthur and a group of his friends took part in a Lip Sync battle on stage at the Quaker-founded, George Fox University in Oregon, performing a a mash-up of the Taylor Swift songs “You Need To Calm Down” and “…Ready For It.” At one point in the routine, Arthur took center stage as his friends grabbed the sleeves of his sequined jacket, pulling it off to reveal a white top with rainbow ribbons hanging from the sleeves. The audience gave a huge cheer in response
One of those who performed with Arthur, Allie Schluchter (@AllieSchluchter), tweeted a video of the performance, saying:
“Tonight I helped one of my favorite people come out, and the love and joy that surrounded this moment is going to stick with me for the rest of my life. I’m so proud of you @reidoburrito95.”
Then, on Friday night, Swift tweeted a response:
“This just made me SO emotional. @reidoburrito95 I can’t tell you how honored I am that my song has been even a small part in your journey. You did the brave thing and stood up for your truth.”
This just made me SO emotional. @reidoburrito95 I can’t tell you how honored I am that my song has been even a small part in your journey. You did the brave thing and stood up for your truth 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) November 23, 2019
Arthur, who is a Swift fan, expressed his delight with his own tweet:
“This woman. My Queen. My Icon. The woman who’s lyrics I have screamed at the top of my lungs. Who’s songs have walked me through the hardest time of my life. TAYLOR ALISON SWIFT. MOTHER OF MEREDITH, OLIVIA, AND BENJAMIN, KNOWS MY NAME. TWEETED ME. I CANNOT CALM DOWN!!!!!”
This woman. My Queen. My Icon. The woman who's lyrics I have screamed at the top of my lungs. Who's songs have walked me through the hardest time of my life. TAYLOR ALISON SWIFT. MOTHER OF MEREDITH, OLIVIA, AND BENJAMIN, KNOWS MY NAME. TWEETED ME. I CANNOT CALM DOWN!!!!! https://t.co/Pg0hgy8pWr
— REiD (𝙏𝙖𝙮𝙡𝙤𝙧'𝙨 𝙑𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣) (@reidoburrito95) November 23, 2019
In another tweet, he added: “HOW AM I EVER SUPPOSED TO DO MY HOMEWORK EVER AGAIN.”
Meredith, Olivia, and Benjamin are the names of Swift’s cats.
