Gay marriage at the Grammys – more offensive than Miley?

Last night, the organisers of music-award show the Grammys, clearly desperate for a bit of easy publicity, attempted to manufacture a right-on equivalent of Miley Cyrus’ headline-grabbing, ‘rape culture’-affirming gyrations at last year’s Video Music Awards. I’m talking, of course, of the Moonie-style mass wedding which followed the performance of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ 2013 gay-marriage rap anthem, ‘Same Love’.

Lesbian rapper Queen Latifah officiated over the nuptials of a gaggle of beaming gay and straight couples, before Madonna, dressed as a cowboy, stalked onto stage to sing a few lines from ‘Open Your Heart’. In a pre-prepared statement before last night’s display, producer Ryan Lewis heralded it as the ‘ultimate statement of equality’ – ya kno, because it showed that all these couples’ love is the same!

In truth, it was perhaps the ‘ultimate statement’ of the increasing evangelism of the gay-marriage brigade, who are wont to dodge any grown-up debate about the issue in favour of shaming backward right-wingers and rubbing their faces in the kind of be-glittered gayness they assume their opponents so revile. It all made for a risible – if depressingly on-message – display that was eminently more offensive than anything Miley did with that foam finger.

Tom Slater is assistant editor at spiked.

Watch the performance below: