Will Lady Gaga Condemn Arizona's Immigration Law?

No one can doubt the gay rights bonafides of Lady Gaga. The artist might just be the most activist-oriented pop musician in history, rallying with hundreds of thousands of gay rights activists on the streets of Washington, D.C., standing up to the homophobia of the Westboro Baptist Church, and joining with others (hello, Cyndi Lauper) to spread awareness about preventing HIV/AIDS. Here's a musician who wants her fans to be committed to equal rights, and who wants to welcome people from all categories to her monster's ball.

But as Lady Gaga prepares to play a July 31 concert in Phoenix, will she let her concert go by without condemning SB 1070, otherwise known as Arizona's proposed immigration law that activists worry could be a ticket for authorities to arrest and detain anyone who looks like an undocumented immigrant?

GetEqual hopes Lady Gaga won't pass up the opportunity to condemn SB 1070. Sure, a federal judge did place a temporary injunction on the law this week, preventing some of the most egregious parts of the law from taking effect. But as GetEqual points out, "Migrant communities in Arizona have been suffering discrimination and hatred long before SB 1070 and will continue to fight until a full injunction takes place."

In other words, even though SB 1070 has been temporary placed on hold, the sentiment that led to the law is still alive and well. And Lady Gaga should, according to GetEqual, lend her rather powerful pop culture voice to speak out on behalf of those who will bear the burden of the proposed law.

Want to join their call? Send Gaga a message right now.

This is also another example of how the LGBT community can partner with groups working for immigrant rights. We've seen this happen frequently in the past year, since comprehensive immigration reform is a subject near and dear to the LGBT community, particularly when it comes to the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA). That act would allow LGBT American citizens to sponsor their international partners, so that families could stay together here in the States, rather than be forced to move abroad, or separate entirely.

And we're seeing this form of partnership again when it comes to opposition to SB 1070. Checking out the poll numbers, LGBT people oppose the principles behind SB 1070 in droves, a fact not lost on those at GetEqual.

"As a community of people who understand what government-sanctioned discrimination feels like, it's important that the LGBT community stand strong with those who are experiencing the same type of discrimination at the hands of others ... especially when there are many places where our communities overlap," the group writes. And they hit the nail on the head.

So let's see Lady Gaga give a shout out against SB 1070 during her July 31 show. It's the right thing to do. And though we know she's friends with Elton John, here's hoping that Gaga doesn't take the same stand he did, in calling those opposed to SB 1070 "fuckwits" earlier this week. Gaga's got more class than that, right?

Photo credit: Michael Spencer