Pop icon Cyndi Lauper compared Republicans pushing for a series of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation to the Nazi persecution of Jewish people under Adolf Hitler's regime in 1930s Germany.
Lauper, a longtime LGBTQ+ activist and equality advocate, told ITK:
“This is how Hitler started.”
“Just weeding everybody out, and then finally he, you know.”
The "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" singer weighed in after being asked her thoughts on the wave of several GOP-backed anti-LGBTQ+ legislation–including a ban on gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth and a ban on public drag shows proposed to "protect minors."
The Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award winner continued saying of the GOP:
“I don’t think it’s a good idea with what they’re doing, but you know, you just have to keep fighting for civil rights.”
“I guess that’s the way it is in this country. Started out like that, didn’t it?”
She insisted the fight for humanity must continue.
"I believe you don’t stop the fight," said Lauper.
Lauper's warning came after conservative speakers attending this year's Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) called for criminalizing the act of trans youth receiving gender-affirming healthcare.
Among the guest speakers pushing for these dehumanizing attacks was The Daily Wire's Michael Knowles, who called for the eradication of "transgenderism. "
"The problem with transgenderism is that it isn’t true," said Knowles to the cheering crowd, adding:
“If [transgenderism] is false, then for the good of society... transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely."
Last week, Tennessee Republican Governor Bill Lee signed into law two bills–House Bill 9, which bans public drag performances, and House Bill 1, which makes it illegal for trans youth to receive gender-affirming care.
Lee faced backlash after enacting the anti-LGBTQ+ bills and was called out for his hypocrisy after a 1977 yearbook photo of him resurfaced of the Tennessee Governor in drag.
Social media users agreed with Lauper's comparison between the numerous anti-LGBTQ+ legislative actions and Hitler.
As an LGBTQ+ ally throughout her career, Lauper has tirelessly campaigned for equality at numerous charities and Pride events around the world.
She cites her lesbian sister Ellen as a role model in her continued fight for equality.
As a board member of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, Lauper devoted her 2005 concert tour to promoting the organization's message of outreach and LGBTQ+ advocacy programs.
The foundation was named after the gay University of Wyoming student who was brutally beaten and left for dead near the college town of Laramie on October 6, 1998, as part of a hate crime. He died from severe head trauma six days later in the hospital at the age of 21.
In 2008, Lauper started True Colors United–inspired by her hit single, "True Colors"–which works to eradicate LGBTQ+ youth homelessness.
The organization launched the Give a Damn campaign in 2010, to encourage heterosexual allies to get more involved in fighting for LGBTQ+ rights.
Lauper told ITK:
“Equality for everybody, or nobody’s really equal.”
