US: Teacher suspended for showing Macklemore’s ‘Same Love’ music video to class

A teacher in North Carolina was suspended after showing a group of students the music video for Macklemore’s ‘Same Love,’ a song which supports same-sex marriage and gay equality.

The teacher played the video in a critical theory class, Charlotte Observer reports.

Alexander County Schools Associate Superintendent Jeff Peal told the Taylorsville Times: “At West Alexander Middle School, there was an inappropriate video shown in class, outside the bounds of the curriculum that called for disciplinary action last week.”

Mr Peal did not name the teacher responsible for showing the video but added they would return to the school within a week.

The song Same Love, from Macklemore’s latest album collaboration, addresses the straight rapper’s personal experiences and feelings around the issue of same-sex relationships and equal marriage, and features a video spanning the lives of a gay couple, including a happy marriage.

Speaking about the issues tackled by the song, Macklemore said in August that he wanted to go for issues other people “are afraid to address.”

He based the song on his gay uncles, and godfather, and said he was anxious when it came to playing the song for them for the first time. He said: ”I was really nervous to play it for them.

“It’s obviously a very personal song, and I didn’t want to cross any boundaries in terms of their privacy. But we actually ended up taking a picture of them and using it as the cover art for the single.

“I wanted the art to reflect how personal the song was, and they are a big reason why I’m so passionate about the issue.”

The video has been viewed nearly 78 million times on Youtube, and was featured as part of the website’s Pride Week.

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