After an elementary school in Waukesha, Wisconsin, banned a performance of Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton‘s “Rainbowland” at its spring concert, Miley’s foundation responded with a donation.
The singer acted through her Happy Hippie Foundation, which helps fight injustices facing homeless youth, LGBTQ+ youth and other vulnerable populations. The foundation took to Twitter to send encouraging words to the students who may have been disappointed that they were unable to perform the song.
“To the inspiring first grade students at Heyer Elementary, keep being YOU. We believe in our Happy Hippie heart that you’ll be the ones to brush the judgment and fear aside and make all of us more understanding and accepting,” it wrote in a statement.
The post continued in a separate update, “In honor & celebration of your BRIGHT future Happy Hippie is making a donation to [Pride and Less Prejudice] to help make classrooms more inclusive!”
Pride and Less Prejudice is a nonprofit initiative that sends age-appropriate LGBTQ-inclusive books to pre-K through third-grade classrooms.
The nonprofit celebrated the news and said Miley’s support will help them reach “elementary school classrooms across the US and Canada.”
The donation comes after Heyer Elementary School administrators yanked the song “Rainbowland” from the lineup because it “could be perceived as controversial.”
The song, which was released off Miley’s 2017 album, Younger Now, contains the lyrics “Living in a Rainbowland/ The skies are blue and things are grand/ Wouldn’t it be nice to live in paradise/ Where we’re free to be exactly who we are/ Let’s all dig down deep inside/ Brush the judgement and fear aside.”
Dolly has yet to respond to the controversy.
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