By Dylan Mangahis, September 23, 2025
Dancers, drag artists and voguing icons graced a New York City-style stage holding up protest signs during Sabrina Carpenter’s “Tears” performance at the Video Music Awards Sept. 7.
Carpenter used her performance as an opportunity to send a not-so-subtle message around the world to protect the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community. From the 285 anti-LBGTQ bills advancing through committee and 71 active bills, to trans hate speech being spewed from politicians and political activists, queer and transgender hate has become increasingly prevalent in our everyday lives.
During the instrumental section of Carpenter’s number, queer and trans performers, alongside drag artists, gathered and waved signs displaying phrases like “Dolls Dolls Dolls,” “Protect Trans Rights” and “Support Local Drag.”
“It wasn’t perfect, but it was important,” said gender, ethnicity and multicultural studies student Syd Conine. “It was a powerful way for her to use her platform for progress, I think, because transgender people are being targeted and used as scapegoats.”
For example, the New York Post revealed texts shared between Charlie Kirk’s assassin and his trans partner, Lance Twiggs. The New York Post, among other online newspaper outlets, highlighted Twiggs’ sexual and gender orientation in headlines and included multiple mentions of it throughout their article.
Carpenter’s performance mirrored a back-alley party turned protest, paying tribute to the culture within the ‘80s era, the height of popularity for the ballroom scene, and the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, also known as ACT UP.
The ballroom scene, also known as ballroom, is an underground POC, LGBTQ+ subculture originating in New York from as early as the 1920s. Ballroom is quintessential for being one of the first spaces where queer people of color found community and safety after being shunned from their families, according to Spectrum News.
On stage, drag artists and voguing, a dance style born from ballroom, icons such as Honey Balenciaga and Malik Brehon danced alongside her before half-naked male performers dressed as police officers stomped around the protest.
“I don’t know about the cops on stage,” Conine said. “I don’t know about them being all sexy and stuff.”
Still, Conine said drawing more eyes to these issues is to meet people with empathy and compassion. Even if someone may not understand, it doesn’t permit someone to rescind rights from other human beings. Conine believes acknowledgment can be powerful, and being perceived is all the community asks for.
It also brought a sense of hope for many members of the community, including anthropology student Damian Pierce.
“It’s really nice to see, and for me, comforting because especially at this point in the public perception of queer culture, it’s really important to have somebody that sort of is showcasing queer culture,” Pierce said. “And that fact that she uses, like the slang term ‘doll,’ even though a lot of people necessarily know what that means in like every day run of the mill circles.”
The term “doll” was coined in ballroom to express solidarity and support for trans women.
Pierce said he cried a little bit when he saw it, as those were the people he wanted to see as a kid.
Utilizing a high-profile platform for allyship can go a long way, especially as an A-list celebrity. But for straight, cis celebrities like Carpenter, there can be an air of question in their allyship about whether it’s simply performative, said Conine.
Aleksus Santamaria, a psychology and liberal studies student, believes a performative approach could lead to actual advocacy when backed with the right intent.
“I feel like there should be more education if you’re going to be performative,” Santamaria said.
For Carpenter, her advocacy work does not stop at televised performances and music videos. She’s donated more than $1 million since 2024 through The Sabrina Carpenter Fund, a partnership between her and Plus1 – a registered nonprofit that partners with artists to create a personalized fund to support causes of their choice.
Proceeds from the Sabrina Carpenter Fund donate to support organizations such as the LGBT National Help Center.
There are also multiple services to support queer people in need locally, like housing with the Los Angeles LGBT Center, support services with Foothill AIDS Project, workforce development with Reach LA, and education support with our on-campus Pride Center.