On Jan. 27, Taylor Swift dropped the extremely anticipated music video for “Lavender Haze” off Midnights. Swifties shortly began dissected the video for Easter eggs and other clues (naturally) however followers had been particularly excited to see transgender mannequin Laith Ashley De La Cruz performed the singer’s love curiosity within the video.
All through the video, the 2 maintain one another and lie in mattress as Swift caresses De La Cruz’s naked again. He additionally seems as a meteorologist on Swift’s TV earlier than showing at a celebration along with her in a loving embrace.
“Thanks @taylorswift for permitting me to play a small half in your story,” De La Cruz wrote on Instagram after the video dropped. “You might be good, and that is an expertise I’ll always remember. It was actually magical.”
“Thanks for being an ally and for repeatedly utilizing your platform for good. Illustration issues. AND LOVDE WILL ALWAYS WIN!” the mannequin continued.
“Having a trans particular person simply being in love on display screen, it’s humanizing trans folks,” De La Cruz instructed BuzzFeed News. “We should exist. We should take up area in society. We’ll all the time exist no matter anti-trans propaganda.”
Followers had been additionally over the moon about Swift’s inclusion of De La Cruz within the music video.
“I imply Taylor Swift may’ve chosen anybody however she selected Laith Ashley, a transgender male actor, to be a part of Lavender Haze mv. That exhibits how a lot she values inclusivity. Really a LGBTQ+ ally!!!,” wrote one fan.
“The love curiosity in Taylor Swift’s new Lavender Haze music video is trans mannequin and artist Laith Ashley. At a time when trans rights are more and more below assault, this illustration is main,” wrote tradition author and reporter Ashley Spencer. In accordance with the ACLU, over 120 payments proscribing LGBTQ rights have been launched within the U.S. in 2023 alone.
Watch your entire video for “Lavender Haze” beneath.
