Daily Meme: Music for Marriage Equality

by

  • Last night's 56th Annual Grammy Awards featured Queen Latifah, deputized by Los Angeles County, performing 34 marriages that included both straight and gay couples as Macklemore & Ryan Lewis's "Same Love" played. With its full-throated endorsement of same-sex marriage, the song became an anthem of the marriage-equality movement last year. The ratings rundown? 28.5 million viewers across the globe.
  • The performance, however, didn't include the chorus of right-wing outrage: "Sick!" blasted Fox & Friends contributor Todd Starnes. "This was not about marriage. This was about bashing God and the church."
  • "For one night, an awards show understood what it meant to appeal to the masses, wrote Breitbart's Christian Toto. "The 2014 Grammy Awards fired off a culture war missile aimed at those who believe in a traditional definition of marriage."
  • "The world has gone gay-mad! And it is sickening!" said New Prospect Baptist Church minister Buster Wilson.
  • Joined in his outrage was the Media Research Center's Tim Graham, who thought it was all an elaborate stunt to "mock the traditional values of conservative American Christians, Jews, Muslims, and others."
  • Not to be outdone himself, the American Family Association's Bryan Fischer warned that the Grammy telecast would "feature sodomy-based wedding ceremonies."
  • "Just another way the media is attempting to indoctrinate your children into accepting homosexuality as 'normal,'"chimed in Tea Partier Pete Wade in Indiana.
  • The crowd's reaction-and the general public's-was far warmer. "Shed a li'l tear during those same-sex mass wedding (vows) in Macklemore's 'Same Love' #56thGrammy2014 stage. It was so beautiful."
  • The Queen herself also sounded off: ""I look forward to the day when presiding over a historic wedding ceremony like this is the norm."
  • We press play, don't press pause
  • Progress, march on
  • A certificate on paper isn't gonna solve it all
  • But it's a damn good place to start.

If you enjoyed this article, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. For over 30 years, The American Prospect has delivered independent reporting that exposes corporate power, investigates political corruption, and analyzes threats to our democracy. Unlike many media outlets, we’re not owned by billionaires or corporations—we’re powered by readers like you.

Today’s independent journalism faces unprecedented challenges. Your support makes our reporting possible and keeps our work free and accessible to all. Whether it’s $5 or $50, every contribution helps sustain our nonprofit newsroom.

Join our community of supporters and make a donation today to help keep independent journalism thriving.