Beyoncé kicked off her long-awaited ‘Renaissance’ tour in Sweden last night (May 10) and surprised fans by making the bathrooms onsite gender-neutral.
The show was held in Stockholm, and marked the first tour date on Beyoncé’s extensive ‘Renaissance’ tour — her first series of live performances since her “On the Run II Tour” with Jay-Z in 2018. It also marked her first solo tour since 2016.
Fans attending last night’s show also noticed one thing different about the ‘Single Ladies’ set-up, she had made public bathrooms at the venue more inclusive. Sharing photos on Twitter, fans noticed how a small DIY sign had been attached to the walls with duct tape, covering up the usual signs, which read ‘Gender Neutral Restroom’.
It can be expected that these signs will appear at all of Beyoncé’s upcoming performances, which will span through Europe, before hitting the UK and then eventually moving into the United States.
This decision would prove to be significant at numerous shows in the US, as the tour will be making stops in plenty of states which recently passed laws and policies that banned gender-affirming care for children under the age of 18. These states included Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, Florida, Missouri and Tennessee.
Beyonce’s team is making all of the bathrooms Gender Neutral on the #RENAISSANCEWorldTour pic.twitter.com/hsPPxyHHEK
— RENAISSANCE Updates🪩 (@B7Album) May 10, 2023
If the signs creating gender-neutral bathrooms were to appear at these headline dates across these states, it wouldn’t be the first time that the ‘Love On Top’ has spoken out against anti-LGBTQ+ laws that have arisen across the country.
Back in 2016, Beyoncé published an update on her official website, praising “those doing the good work” against non-inclusive laws passed in North Carolina.
The laws passed required individuals to use bathrooms corresponding to their biological sex, and later led to numerous high-profile artists — including Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr and Pearl Jam — to cancel their scheduled shows in the state.
“As The Formation World Tour makes its stop in the Tar Heel state in the midst of such a controversial time, we think it is important for us to bring attention to those who are committed to being good and carrying on the message of equality in this core of controversy,” the post read.
“Among the many organisations doing the good work to get this bill overturned, there is Equality NC, a local organisation dedicated to securing equal rights and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) North Carolinians.”
Earlier this week, it was reported that the singer could clear over $2billion (£1.6billion) from her tour — over half a billion more than Taylor Swift is set to make on her ‘Eras’ tour.
At last night’s opening show on the tour, the R&B icon surprised fans with a stunning 36-song setlist, which covered her illustrious career and focused heavily on her latest output, ‘Renaissance’.
As well as including numerous fan favourites — namely ‘Love on Top’, ‘Crazy In Love’, ‘Formation’ and ‘Drunk In Love’ — the show in Stockholm also saw several live debuts like ‘Cuff It’, ‘Break My Soul’ and ‘Summer Renaissance’.