Lady Gaga Rallies for Protest of Immigration Law During Arizona Concert

Prior to Lady Gaga’s concert on Saturday night in Arizona, various rappers and rock stars asked the pop singer to cancel her performance and boycott the state due to the existence of Arizona Senate Bill 1070. While she respectfully chose not to comply with their requests, she capitalized on the opportunity to urge fans to protest the controversial immigration law.

“We have to be active, we have to actively protest,” said Gaga to the crowd of over 14,000, according to MTV. “I will not cancel my show. I will hold you, and we will hold each other, and we will protest this state.” The eccentric recording artist addressed SB 1070 on her Twitter page prior to the concert and the slogan “Stop SB 1070” was written on her forearm during her show.

Before the concert, Gaga tweeted, “Tonight we will continue to actively protest social and political injustices in Arizona. We will sing, we will stand up, + we will be heard.” Earlier this month, she rallied her fans against anti-gay protesters by preaching love and unity and she chose to address another hot-button political issue by turning her attention towards SB 1070.

Before dedicating a performance of “You and I” to a young Arizona boy who had been affected by the law’s existence, she told his story to the fans in attendance. “I met a boy today who is suffering ... He told me his house was raided because of a parking ticket or something. They took his brother, and now he is in Mexico,” Gaga revealed.

She continued by saying, “It’s really disgusting. I think it’s important that people understand that it’s a state of emergency for this place and this state.”