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On the Joanne World Tour, the "Born This Way" singer made it clear that her halftime performance was an act of activism.
Lady Gaga gave much love to her queer fans Wednesday at the Los Angeles stop of her Joanne World Tour. Addressing the "LGBTQ" community by name multiple times, Gaga said, "Everyone is family here" and "everyone's gotta love each other."
During the "Million Reasons" encore, Gaga also made one thing clear to fans: Her halftime performance at this year's Super Bowl was an act of LGBT activism.
"I had the opportunity to play the Super Bowl. And I hope that you saw ... that the entire world stood up for you -- not for me, but for you," Gaga told the cheering crowd at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif.
Gaga's February Super Bowl show had been hotly anticipated by LGBT people. Many, including conservatives, expected the bisexual singer to make a political statement against the anti-LGBT Donald Trump administration. On election night, Gaga had stood outside of Trump Tower in protest of the Republican politician.
The resulting 13-minute extravaganza, which included performances of Woody Guthrie's protest song "This Land Is Your Land" and the Pride anthem "Born This Way," received bipartisan praise -- fans included Laverne Cox, Sen. Marco Rubio, and Ivanka Trump. However, it was also criticized by some as being apolitical. In response, The Advocate's women's editor Tracy Gilchrist pointed out how the show was "deeply subversive" in its lyrics, inclusion, and queer sensibility.
Gaga did not mention Trump by name at her concert. Yet she concluded the show with an acknowledgment that while her Super Bowl show was a win for LGBT acceptance, the fight for equality is far from over.
"What [the Super Bowl show] tells me is that you can't give up trying. Because it's hard as shit, but you just got to keep going until somebody just fucking listens -- no matter gay, straight, or bi, lesbian, transgendered life," she concluded, a reference to the "Born This Way" lyrics she sang at the football stadium. "And for that reason, you gave me a million to stick around."
The Joanne World Tour runs through December 18.
