Macklemore has pledged to donate the proceeds from his song, ‘Same Love’, to help campaigns for marriage equality in Australia.
The track, which tackles issues such as homophobia, LGBT rights and tolerance, was released in 2012, and was inspired by prejudices against gay people within the hip-hop community.
Macklemore
Mark Kolbe via Getty Images
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Last week, it was performed at the National Rugby League Grand Final in Australia, at a time when the country is about to have a referendum about the legalisation of same-sex marriage.
As the song’s popularity has continued to grow Down Under, Macklemore has now vowed that any money raised by the song in Australia will be donated to the cause.
He told Nine News Australia: “That is what music has the power to do, it’s not to divide people, but to create an environment where people can start a debate, have a conversation, and bring a message to the forefront.
“I haven’t figured it out yet… but I want to donate my portion of the proceeds from ‘Same Love’ that I get off of that record here in Australia to voting yes [to marriage equality].
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“So I need to figure out what that looks like, and how to do that, but that is something that I’m going to do.”
‘Same Love’ features Macklemore’s frequent collaborator Ryan Lewis, as well as singer/songwriter Mary Lambert, who later reworked the chorus into her own song celebrating same-sex love, ‘She Keeps My Warm’.
In 2014, the song was performed by Macklemore at the Grammys, during which Queen Latifah presided over a mass wedding of 33 couples, followed by a guest performance from Madonna.
Listen to ‘Same Love’ below:
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StudioCanal
"It’s the point at which we see gay people on screen, but that is not why they’re on screen - that’s not the point of the story. Films like ‘Carol’ and ‘Freeheld’ - they’re amazing films, so emotional, and the fact that it just happens to feature two women is completely insignificant. The past few years, with ‘The Danish Girl’ as well, it suggests we’re living in a different society to we were 10 years ago. Hollywood is definitely portraying that we’ve taken a massive step now" - Wayne Dhesi, founder of RUComingOut
Getty
"For me, growing up in New Jersey, it was Bruce Springsteen winning the Oscar for writing the song from ‘Philadelphia’. It was just a big deal because the working class people in New Jersey that were avid Springsteen fans, as I am, would be like ‘wow, I guess that’s OK. If Bruce Springsteen is behind it then other people should be" - Willie Garson, actor who played Stanford in 'Sex and the City'
Netflix
"Laura Jane Grace coming out as trans, trans star Laverne Cox in 'OITNB' (left), emergence of gay hip hop" - Ryan, comedy editor
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Channel4
"'Queer As Folk' getting commissioned as a TV series" - Rebecca, US frontpage editor
BBC
"LGBT characters are commonplace on TV and film these days - and quite right too. But for me, a stand-out moment was the introduction of gay couple Colin and Barry in 'EastEnders'. It coincided with me coming to terms with my own sexuality and to see two gay characters on such a huge mainstream soap gave me a glimmer of hope that being gay wasn't the end of the world or something to fear" - Matt, exec editor (entertainment)
Channel4
"I would probably say that this year has been quite a ground-breaking year for the transgender community. We've got Annie Wallace in our show (above) and Riley Carter-Millington in EastEnders. It's been great and it's got people talking, we've also had Caitlyn Jenner which was an iconic moment for the LGBT community" - Kieron Richardson, Hollyoaks actor
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VanityFair
"I'm aware the 'Brookside' lesbian kiss of 1994 for was a big deal. I think Caitlin Jenner coming out was obviously huge, and star like Laverne Cox in 'OITNB' and Rebecca Root in a bunch of things are great" - Louise, assistant news editor
Channel5
"I think 'Big Brother' has opened our eyes to a lot that we wouldn't have been exposed to before the era of reality TV. The great thing about the show is that it features people from all walks of life you don't always meet day-to-day, and you learn about them, their culture and their struggles. Over the 16 years it's been on air, we've seen so many different people from all aspects of the LGBT community, but Nadia Almanda winning in 2004 I think will always be a stand-out moment, particularly for the trans community" - Ashley, entertainment reporter
Fox Searchlight
"Acknowledgement from the academy for films about LGBT lives - 'Boys Don't Cry' (left), 'Brokeback Mountain' - means now films like 'Carol' are less likely to have 'lesbian' used as a describing word and can just be a film about two women" - Jessie, editorial assistant (blogs)
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PA
"Macklemore's performance at the 2014 Grammys where they conducted straight and gay weddings to the song Same Love" - Francesca, videoprogrammer
Madonna
Madonna's Erotica and Sex book - John, senior director, communications
Focus Features
"It's hard to choose only one moment but I will say 'Brokeback Mountain'. I remember being stunned when I watched it for the first time. The film was nominated for a lot of Oscars and it didn't affect the main actors' careers in a bad way, quite the opposite. It's one of the Academy's biggest injustices (not receiving the Best Picture award) but it was still a box office hit and it was really groundbreaking" - Philippe, videoprogrammer
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Channel4
"UK-wise maybe the pre-watershed lesbian kiss on 'Brookside'. Sadly, I remember it more for it being a major event with quite a large negative backlash but at least it got people talking" - Chris, social media editor
BBC
"Perhaps not most significant ever, but certainly of the past few years Conchita Wurst’s emotional victory at Eurovision 2014, and that speech afterwards: ‘We are unity and we are unstoppable" - Daniel, entertainment reporter
