How a straight whe rapper om Seattle wrote hip-hop’s first gay anthem.
Contents:
- MACKLEMORE AND LEWIS JO UN GAY RIGHTS MPAIGN
- ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL
- MACKLEMORE BEG RAP’S FOREMOST GAY RIGHTS ACTIVIST
- ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL
MACKLEMORE AND LEWIS JO UN GAY RIGHTS MPAIGN
* macklemore gay rights activist *
At first glance, one uld take Macklemore (real name: Ben Haggerty) for the natn's first mastream gay rapper. " No, he's not gay. ) At one pot time, though, he certaly thought he might be gay.
"I knew I wanted to wre a song about gay rights, about marriage equaly, and about homophobia hip-hop, but I didn't know how to do , " he says. "I tried, at first, wrg om the perspective of a gay, bullied kid. The rult was an acunt of Macklemore's stggle wh his own sexualy as a he and Lewis grew up surround by gay adults.
Lewis's uncle is gay and has been livg wh HIV for 30 years.
ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL
Gay rights activists and entertaers Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. Photo urty of * macklemore gay rights activist *
"Growg up wh a gay uncle and havg him be a huge part of our fay -- I don't thk my parents' outlook would be the same if weren't for him, " Lewis says. " Macklemore was raised Capol Hill, a liberal, gay-iendly district of Seattle. The men clost to him -- his uncle Johnny and his godfather -- are gay.
MACKLEMORE BEG RAP’S FOREMOST GAY RIGHTS ACTIVIST
Macklemore may not have won many headl at the 2013 MTV Vio Mic Awards, what wh Miley Cys twerkg on stage and Lady Gaga showg off her near-naked behd, but the rapper gave a performance that solidified him the foremost gay rights advote the rap world. The Seattle rapper and his unterpart Ryan Lewis […] * macklemore gay rights activist *
"Where I grew up, there were huge gay pri paras ls than a e away om me, " Macklemore says. "My dad's bt iend was gay. My barber was gay.
My uncl owned this rtrant that was a huge mag for the gay muny. My whole upbrgg was around gay people. "But a major part of that nversatn clus the qutn of why a uple of straight whe guys are sudnly the face of gay-iendly hip-hop.
ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL
"If I was gay, I would thk hip-hop hat me" -- that's what Macklemore himself raps "Same Love. " So what do he or Lewis know about beg gay, or black, or both the world of hip-hop? "The sgle supports the ia, or at least impli that people of lor -- particularly black folks who created hip-hop -- are more homophobic than whe people and that there are no queer people who feel supported the muni, " he wr.
"This is very dismissive of queer people of lor who nsir muni of lor their primary muni, who have experienced racism by queer muni, and for queer hip-hop artists of lor who have found a home the unrvalued sub-genre of homo hop. "For Jamion Cox, a whe, gay, Toronto-based mic ntributor to BuzzFeed, Macklemore's stance is problematic.
" That said, he, for one, don't doubt Macklemore and Lewis's tentns: "It would take an credibly cynil person to thk that Macklemore is attemptg to ri a wave of creasg acceptance of homosexualy to mercial succs, and I'm not that guy. "To his cred, as Macklemore has gaed mercial succs, largely thanks to "Thrift Shop, " he hasn't backed away om gay rights. If anythg, sce the release of "Same Love, " he's embraced his posn as a very visible straight recently filmed a PSA for "You Can Play, " a mpaign aimed at creatg an environment of equaly and rpect for all athlet, and April he expand on his gay marriage anthem wh a mercial for Nordstrom celebratg diverse weddgs.