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 […]
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
How a straight whe rapper om Seattle wrote hip-hop’s first gay anthem. * 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.
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 *
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. "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.
"Where I grew up, there were huge gay pri paras ls than a e away om me, " Macklemore says.
MACKLEMORE BEG RAP’S FOREMOST GAY RIGHTS ACTIVIST
* macklemore gay rights activist *
"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.