The country music industry isn't LGBTQ-inclusive.

Our queer youth need representation in every facet of the entertainment industry.

And the ACMs need to take responsibility.

Please take a minute to help support LGBTQ+ pride in country music by signing this petition!

(If it's not safe for you to sign because you aren't out, no worries! You can always type "anonymous" and hide your location. We all support you!)

In the country music industry, queer artists are few and far between. (content warning: homophobia) As a result, every day, a great country song that could reach a listener's ears doesn't, just because the artist happens to be LGBTQ+. You've probably missed out on a lot of great music you could have experienced, all because the country music industry harbors systemic homophobia. Queer artists such as Lil Nas X do well in almost every other genre, but if you're a country fan, many artists you could be listening to are being held back by discrimination. Even if you don't listen to country music, the state of the entertainment industry affects almost everyone. (end of content warning) To combat this problem and give queer artists more visibility, the American Country Music Awards should start a category for Outstanding LGBTQ+ Artist. This would give the ACMs a passionate queer fanbase (which would increase donations and ad revenue) and help queer country artists get more visibility. It would also help reduce bias because ACM viewers would get to experience queerness without venturing beyond their favorite genre. More than anything, this would mean the world to the LGBTQ+ community. The ACMs should consider making this change immediately.

Do you care about this cause? There are plenty of ways to help! After you're signed this, here's a list of ideas (no pressure):

• Follow our mood playlist on Spotify! Here's a link.
• Use and share our video conference call background, or make your own!
• See your favorite LGBTQ+ country artists in concert! If you're not sure who to listen to, there are plenty of LGBTQ+ country artists on our playlist.
• Sharing on social media? Use our official short link: tinyurl.com/ACM-rep.
• Comment on queer-centric news articles with a link to this petition!
• Go viral with our hashtags: #ACM_LGBTQ_Rep, #KeepCountryGay, and #QueerCountryRepresentation
• Put our logo on tee shirts, pins, and patches! You can download and screenshot it here.
• Donate and ask your friends to donate, if you have the means to do so. *awkwardly asks for money*
• Leave a (polite) comment! Like and share others' (really, really polite) comments! (P.S. Any rude or homophobic comments will be deleted.)
• Go direct and get in touch with Ed Warm! We're petitioning him because he's the head of the ACM board. Here's a link to his LinkedIn.
• Do you live near the ACM venue? Please plan an in-person protest around awards season! Remember to mention this petition, and if you'd like support from us, please register through our Mobilize page! (Just click "Host an event" to get started.) For both moral reasons and PR reasons, we require that all protests associated with us be peaceful and non-violent. If you do protest in a way that's illegal, we will not promote your event or pay your legal fees, and it may hurt the cause.
• Send this to friends, parents, parents of friends, friends of parents, classmates, colleagues, your social media following, your social media following's social media following, random people, your significant other, the guy who called a wrong number on your phone, and your pet cat. (Okay, you don't have to tell your pet cat.)

Thanks for your support!