Article: Why Rappers Are Suddenly Speaking Out in Support of Gay Pride

What a breath of fresh air...

Why Rappers Are Suddenly Speaking Out in Support of Gay Pride - The Daily Beast

Hip-hop and homophobic hate speech have long gone hand in hand—but now MCs from Fat Joe to The Game are changing their tune. Chris Lee on rap’s gay-friendly tipping point. Print Email Comments (10)

Has hip-hop finally had it with homophobia?

Since the genre’s explosion into the public consciousness in the early ’80s, rap music has stood apart as one of popular culture’s most unregulated forums for anti-gay hate speech. From Ice Cube’s paean to male anal rape, “No Vaseline,” to Big Daddy Kane proclaiming himself “anti-f----t” and Eminem’s scorching repudiation of homosexuality on 2000’s “Criminal”—“Whether you’re a fag or lez / Or the homosex, hermaph or trans-a-vest / Pants or dress / Hate fags? The answer’s yes”—MCs have unleashed homophobic rants and hurled slurs in songs without fear of censorship or reprisal for nearly three decades.

But in the last few months, seemingly unprompted by anything more than some new wellspring of compassion, major hip-hop artists have been speaking out in vehement condemnation of old homophobic tropes, calling for greater tolerance toward gay people, urging closeted gays to come out, and expressing admiration for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community in ways that would have been unimaginable a generation ago."

(Continued... Why Rappers Are Suddenly Speaking Out in Support of Gay Pride - The Daily Beast)