Sabrina Carpenter Addresses Advocacy For Trans Rights At VMAs: “I’m So Grateful To Do That”
Sabrina Carpenter took the 2025 MTV VMAs stage to address her performance of “Tears,” where she advocated for trans rights.
The singer won the trophy for Best Album and took the opportunity to share her gratitude to shine a spotlight on a marginalized community.
“This world, as we all know, can be so full of criticism and discrimination and negativity,” she said. “So to get to be part of something that can bring light, make you smile, make you dance, and make you feel like the world is your f***ing oyster. I’m so grateful to do that.”
Trans people and drag queens joined Carpenter at the UBS Arena for the performance that saw the singer have a dance break in the rain.
The background dancers who accompanied Carpenter held signs that read “In trans we trust,” “Dolls, dolls, dolls,” “If you hate, you’ll never get laid,” “Love each other,” “Support drag,” and “Protect trans rights,” among others.
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Carpenter is the latest celebrity to raise their voice in standing up against the hate the marginalized community is receiving from the current White House administration.
The trans community has been hit hard by the Donald Trump administration with policies that purposely exclude them. Trump recently signed an executive order titled “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness which restricts transgender military service.
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Elsewhere in her speech, Carpenter poked fun at herself for all the albums she had produced before making it big with her previous album Short n’ Sweet, for which she won at the VMAs.
“I really don’t take for granted when you guys take the time out of your lives to listen to an album and if I’m lucky enough that that is my album, I am so grateful wether that be Short n’ Sweet or whether that be Man’s Best Friend, my new album, or whether it be one of my 29 [albums] before that,” she joked. “I’m just the luckiest girl in the world.”
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Watch Sabrina Carpenter’s speech in the video below.
