During a Grammy performance of “Same Love”, we truly get to see what “same” means.
During the Macklemore and Lewis and Mary Lambert performance of “Same Love” at the 2014 Grammys, there was a wedding.
Actually, there were 33 weddings. Same-sex couples. Opposite-sex couples. In the theatre. At the Grammys.
I don’t think I have ever seen a more powerful message for what marriage equality actually means, put out there in prime time, on mainstream television, in front of tens of millions of people. It was not an abstract, to be argued in a courtroom. It was there. It was real.
It means equal. It means the same. It means no difference. It means that those two men are married, just the same as that man and woman and those two women.
Those 33 couples that were lined up all exchanged rings. They all made the same promise. They all received the same pronouncement from the same person who was legally empowered to say those words, to pronounce them married couples.
Same.
They had all filled out the same paperwork, paid the same fees.
Same.
They stood there with the person they had chosen to marry, to make that commitment with.
Same.
The couples varied widely in ethnicity, dress, age, size, appearance.
But their purpose there, in that moment, was the same. To be married. To be a wedded couple.
Same.
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I found out about the Macklemore & Lewis Grammy plans a few hours before the event. If I hadn’t been planning to watch already, that would have gotten my butt in front of the TV.
Have you heard the song “Same Love”? It’s an anthem against hate. It’s a call for equality. It’s explicitly pro same-sex marriage. And it boldly calls out hip-hop for its attitudes and language, saying, “If I was gay, I would think hip-hop hates me.” During the performance, CBS did not bleep the word “faggot” from the song, allowing the full impact of what Macklemore was saying to hit every listening ear.
33 couples were married during the song. Some same-sex. Some opposite-sex. They stood down the aisle of the theatre. Queen Latifah officiated from the stage.
When they panned the theatre, there were laughter and tears and cheering everywhere, including from the couch in my living room, where my guypartner and I sat, waiting to see if it would actually happen.
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When I got online the next morning, it didn’t appear that the internet had melted under spewing gushers of hate.
I did not hear that Twitter or Facebook or any other social-networking site crashed.
It wasn’t even the top story on a certain cable news outlet’s website.
Could something actually be changing?
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Macklemore and Lewis took a huge risk with their burgeoning career by even releasing the song. Then they called out their industry peers and their fans, made public their support for marriage equality, allowed on-stage proposals at their show.
They walked the walk. They became allies.
Same love. In the words of Macklemore, “Damn right, I support it.”