Macklemore and Ryan Lewis have recorded
a video to fight homophobia in sports.
The Seattle duo are the first musicians
to take part in the You Can Play campaign, which features
professional and college athletes speaking out against anti-gay
language in the locker room.
“Don't let being gay hold you back,”
Macklemore (real name Ben Haggerty) says in the 1-minute clip
recorded at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Denver. “If you're
straight, don't hold others back. Anti-gay language has no place in
sports or music. If you can play, you can play.” (The video is
embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
This is not the first time Macklemore
and Ryan Lewis, the musical guests for this weekend's Saturday
Night Live, have weighed in on gay rights.
The video for the single Same Love
from the album The Heist was released last fall as voters in
four states, including Washington, considered ballot initiatives
related to gay marriage. In
the 7-minute video, a male gay couple relives the life they
shared together as they near the end of their lives.