Madonna teams with Twin Cities Pride on a new LGBTQ initiative at her St. Paul concert

The Material Girl is teaming up with Twin Cities Pride organizers to provide some much-needed materials for struggling community members at her St. Paul concert Tuesday night.

Madonna invited TC Pride volunteers to work the doors at her Xcel Energy Center show, where they will be accepting donations for their organization’s Rainbow Wardrobe initiative, providing gender-affirming clothing and personal care items for the LGBTQ community.

Concertgoers are encouraged to bring clothes and personal hygiene products to drop into bins on their way into the concert. They can also look for QR codes at the Rainbow Wardrobe stands to donate directly to the cause.

“Over the years, Madonna has been an unwavering ally to the LGBTQ community, and this is a perfect example of it,” said Andi Otto, Twin Cities Pride executive director. “To have her acknowledge the needs of our community in this way means the world to us.”

Madonna’s team has been partnering with LGBTQ organizations in every city on her Celebration Tour, which had to be postponed from last summer when the 65-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer was hospitalized with a bacterial infection. In the case of St. Paul, representatives from the Xcel Center and promoter Live Nation helped connect the tour with TC Pride.

The connection was good timing for the Rainbow Wardrobe. Pride organizers launched the initiative at the annual festival last June, accepting donations at the organization’s office near Loring Park in Minneapolis. Since then, Otto said, “We’ve seen people coming in daily looking for help. It was surprising even to us to realize just how great the needs are in the community.”

Among the primary users of the Rainbow Wardrobe are LGBTQ youths who have become homeless or impoverished — sometimes because of discrimination — and who may not feel safe going to shelters for help.

Otto said personal hygiene items like toothbrushes, deodorant and period care products are among the greatest needs, or financial donations toward such items. As for gender-affirming clothing, Otto said that includes “anything that makes you feel comfortable in your own body.”

Tickets are still available for Tuesday’s concert, ranging in price from $70-$570 via Ticketmaster. The start time is 8:30 p.m., but the singer has notoriously not gone on until after 10 p.m. in most cities — meaning there should be plenty of time to stop at the Rainbow Wardrobe donation stands. Those not going to the concert can show support online at tcpride.org/rainbow-wardrobe.