The mass wedding held at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards on
Sunday night has sparked controversy and been criticized by many as a
political stunt to promote same-sex marriage.
The mass wedding involved 33 homosexual and heterosexual couples, and took place as Macklemore & Ryan Lewis performed a rendition of their pro-gay marriage anthem 'Same Love.' The segment, which has been criticized by many for being inappropriate for the music awards, also featured Madonna and Mary Lambert.
The mass wedding was presided over and officiated by Queen Latifah, who was deputized by Los Angeles County to legally conduct wedding ceremonies.
The couples exchanged rings as Queen Latifah said: "Music has the power to bring people together at the Grammy's. This song is a love song not for some of us but all of us!"
Latifah then officiated the marriages after introducing the couples: "It is my distinct honor to ask the participants to exchange rings. By the power vested in me by the state of California, I now pronounce you a married couple."
The mass marriage segment was kept under wraps until just days before the Grammys, with organizers seemingly under no illusions as to the controversy the pro-gay stunt would stir among some viewers.
The mass marriage news in fact did not surface until Lewis and Grammy Awards producer Ken Ehrlich revealed the plans to The New York Times on Sunday.
Ehrlich has a daughter who is gay and said that the marriage segment reflected his own personal beliefs: "But, I would not want to make a broad statement that it represents the views of the academy or the CBS television network."
Gay marriage is a hugely divisive issue across the United States, as well as many countries around the world, and many critics slamming the segment have said that it was clear Grammy Awards organizers - by including the segment - knew that they were making a political statement. Organizers, though, have continued to deny any such intention.
The couples who took part in the mass wedding ceremony were found by a casting agency, and upon agreeing to take part, were then forced to sign confidentiality agreements to keep the event a secret, even from their own families.
Macklemore & Lewis' 'Same Love' is widely known as a pro-gay marriage anthem, and has been used by gay activists in their push for a redefinition of marriage. The lyrics of the song push for a redefining of marriage, so that it would be between any two consenting adults, as opposed to what Christians believe is the biblical definition of marriage as created by God – the union between one man and one woman before God.
Macklemore's rap segment in the song states: "The right-wing conservatives think it's a decision/And you can be cured with some treatment and religion/Man-made rewiring of a predisposition. Playing God, aw nah here we go/America the brave still fears what we don't know/And God loves all his children, is somehow forgotten/But we paraphrase a book written 3500 years ago."
The mass wedding involved 33 homosexual and heterosexual couples, and took place as Macklemore & Ryan Lewis performed a rendition of their pro-gay marriage anthem 'Same Love.' The segment, which has been criticized by many for being inappropriate for the music awards, also featured Madonna and Mary Lambert.
The mass wedding was presided over and officiated by Queen Latifah, who was deputized by Los Angeles County to legally conduct wedding ceremonies.
The couples exchanged rings as Queen Latifah said: "Music has the power to bring people together at the Grammy's. This song is a love song not for some of us but all of us!"
 |
Performers, from left, Macklemore, Mary Lambert,
Madonna, Ryan Lewis and Queen Latifah appear on stage during a
performance of "Same Love" at the 56th annual Grammy Awards at Staples
Center on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Matt
Sayles/Invision/AP)
|
Latifah then officiated the marriages after introducing the couples: "It is my distinct honor to ask the participants to exchange rings. By the power vested in me by the state of California, I now pronounce you a married couple."
The mass marriage segment was kept under wraps until just days before the Grammys, with organizers seemingly under no illusions as to the controversy the pro-gay stunt would stir among some viewers.
The mass marriage news in fact did not surface until Lewis and Grammy Awards producer Ken Ehrlich revealed the plans to The New York Times on Sunday.
Ehrlich has a daughter who is gay and said that the marriage segment reflected his own personal beliefs: "But, I would not want to make a broad statement that it represents the views of the academy or the CBS television network."
Gay marriage is a hugely divisive issue across the United States, as well as many countries around the world, and many critics slamming the segment have said that it was clear Grammy Awards organizers - by including the segment - knew that they were making a political statement. Organizers, though, have continued to deny any such intention.
The couples who took part in the mass wedding ceremony were found by a casting agency, and upon agreeing to take part, were then forced to sign confidentiality agreements to keep the event a secret, even from their own families.
Macklemore & Lewis' 'Same Love' is widely known as a pro-gay marriage anthem, and has been used by gay activists in their push for a redefinition of marriage. The lyrics of the song push for a redefining of marriage, so that it would be between any two consenting adults, as opposed to what Christians believe is the biblical definition of marriage as created by God – the union between one man and one woman before God.
Macklemore's rap segment in the song states: "The right-wing conservatives think it's a decision/And you can be cured with some treatment and religion/Man-made rewiring of a predisposition. Playing God, aw nah here we go/America the brave still fears what we don't know/And God loves all his children, is somehow forgotten/But we paraphrase a book written 3500 years ago."
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