I just cried. What a beautiful music video. Macklemore is an amazing rapper, and rather than just deliver another record full of sick beats and amazing hooks, he created an album with social thought and human love.The music video I’m talking about is: Same Love , a music video featuring a gay man lost in the haze of adolescence, coming out and finding lasting love. It’s a simple story, but the flow of the video is natural, the lyrics descriptive, and the cinematography beautiful.Okay, so first, please watch the video. I don’t want to spoil anything for you.Wasn’t that amazing?!!My favorite moment was at the end when they bring you back to the beginning of the story with the image of the birth of the boy, with his hand in his mother’s hand, and they show the wrinkled hand of his lover holding his and you see their rings. Same Love.As a gay man seeking companionship, this image means so much to me. It’s an image of something more to strive for. I hope to one day find a guy that I will be able to connect with like that, and seeing that image gives me hope.Part of the strength of this song is that Macklemore’s song is grounded in the tough realities of growing up gay in a homophobic world. Macklemore brings up school bullying and makes a plea for political action.I agree! Marriage is not all that we need, but legally recognizing and supporting the love between queer people is so immensely helpful. The music video ends with a request to support marriage equality through bill 74 in Washington State. This supports not just people saving money at tax time, but a culture shift in which same-sex couples equal. Beyond marriage we must push for social change, and we can do that every day in our own lives by being ourselves and respecting ourselves.I think it’s great that Macklemore, as a rapper, offers criticism of his genre.If I were gay,I listen to hip hop, and I have been shaken by the word, “faggot” many times. But I still listen. I tell myself that this is part of the masculine culture of hip hop and to just disregard it—they really don’t mean it. So when Macklemore pushes for more respect—Macklemore, an established Artist!--I have immense gratitude for him. Hip Hop and spoken word started as a way for people to have a voice and to challenge the forces of conformity and oppression, so it’s great to hear hip hop getting back to that.Lastly, I want to thank Mary Lambert for her pleading vocals that expressed the anguish of the teen who wants to change:Hearing her voice, I feel for her and want to tell her to love herself. I would say: “Take care of yourself, Shut out the hate. You need to be good to yourself. There’s nothing wrong with you.” And I say the same to anyone closeted. Don’t listen to them, and spend time around positive people. You deserve better.