'Parents are parents': Snoop Dogg revises take on kids witnessing queer love
After sparking controversy earlier this year for complaining that two adult women kissed in a kids' movie, Snoop Dogg is setting the record straight about his views on queer families. To mark this year's Spirit Day, the legendary rapper teamed up with GLAAD and out singer Jeremy Beloate on a new animated song, "Love Is Love," and campaign celebrating different types of love and families.At the end of the day, its all about love thats what were teachin the kids with Love Is Love. Partnering with GLAAD for Spirit Day just felt right, because spreading love and respect for everybody is what real gangstas do, Snoop Dogg said in a statement promoting the initiative. Were showin the next generation that kindness is cool, inclusion is powerful, and love always wins.As part of the campaign, a special conversation between Snoop and Beloate, who competed on season 26 of The Voice under Team Snoop, was released on Thursday. In the video interview, the two artists discuss collaborating, bullying, finding one's voice, and their advice for LGBTQ+ youth. The rapper also addresses same-sex parenting, recalling his own childhood and how it's "always been instilled" in him to "lead with love.""It's a beautiful thing that kids can have parents of all walks and be able to be shown love, to be taught what love is, because hate is taught, and so is love," Snoop says, reiterating that "whether it's two fathers, two mothers, whatever it is, love is the key." "I think these kids are being loved by these great parents that are, you know, showing them an example of what family is."Earning nods of agreement from Beloate, Snoop continues, "Kids need to know that parents are parents. No matter what the makeup is, love is the key."Snoop and Beloate also discuss their new song "Love Is Love," which debuted on the rapper's animated YouTube channel, Doggyland. Beloate commended his creative partner for depicting various demographics in the channel's titular children's series, which features original kids' songs and nursery rhymes."You get to see everybody represented, you know, and it's important," Beloate, who voices a puppy named Zippy in the new song, says. "I'm just really, really happy that you're doing that with 'Love Is Love.'""Love Is Love" is a disco-infused track that encourages people to realize that every family is unique. "We embrace all parents with a big ol' hug / Love is love and there's nothing above," Snoop raps in the song. "Different families make us all great / there's no debate, that's how we relate."In August, Snoop faced backlash for comments he made after watching the Disney movie Lightyear with his grandchildren."It fucked me up," the rapper said. "Im like, scared to go to the movies. Y'all throwing me in the middle of shit that I don't have an answer for It threw me for a loop. I'm like, 'What part of the movie was this?' These are kids. We have to show that at this age? They're going to ask questions. I dont have the answer."At the time, Lauren Gunderson, who wrote Lightyear, responded on Threads."As we wrote early versions of what became LIGHTYEAR, a key character needed a partner, and it was so natural to write 'she' instead of 'he.' As small as that detail is in the film, I knew the representational effect it could have. Small line, big deal. I was elated that they kept it," Gunderson wrote on the platform, ending with "Love is love."