Massachusetts became the first state in America, and only the sixth jurisdiction in the world, to legalize same-sex marriage in 2004.
A decade later, many other states had followed, and nearly 70% of the country lived somewhere that had equalized marriage rights, either through legislation or at the ballot box; and since June 26, 2015, when the Supreme Court struck down remaining state bans on same-sex marriage in Obergefell v. Hodges, everyone in the United States has been free to marry whoever they choose.
Today, though, that freedom is being threatened, as lawmakers in nine states have proposed resolutions calling on the Supreme Court to overturn its momentous decision, and the American Civil Liberties Union is tracking nearly 600 anti-LGBTQ bills filed in state legislatures across the country.
Back in 2012, before I began writing these “Running the Campus” blog posts, I started sending out “weeklies,” emails to the campus and community that usually included something about what was happening at NECC that week, a perspective on a big issue facing higher education, and a short story about my daughters, who were twelve and eight years old and known in the weeklies as “Big Sis T and Little Sis Z.”
A few of those early “Weeklies” are still in the Archives of “Running the Campus.”
On this first day of Pride Month 2025, I’m taking a trip in the Archives back to June 13, 2013 for a conversation about the future, and the importance of hanging onto it, with Big Sis T and Little Sis Z.
The Future is Now
Fans of the television show Glee or last year’s teen musical rom-com, Pitch Perfect know that a cappella singing is wildly popular right now with some kids—including mine.
Big Sis T has been taking acoustic guitar lessons so she can play like Jewel and Taylor Swift, and Little Sis Z has been exercising her pipes in voice lessons with an ear toward Britt Nicole and Idina Menzel.
Last week, Big Sis explained that she and some of her friends at school have been talking about starting their own a cappella group, and asked if I would download a list of songs for them.
Not so unusual. The way this works around our house is anytime Big Sis (and now Little Sis is starting to get in on it) wants some new music, she writes down a list for me, I have a listen and sometimes look up the lyrics, then head out to iTunes and put together a Dad-approved CD.
She’s 13 now, so we’ve evolved from the simple and sometimes silly (the Irish Rovers crooning “The Unicorn Song” and Bobby McFerrin beatboxing “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”), to Disney pop (Hannah Montana and Selena Gomez), to the rhythmic and sometimes questionable (Katy Perry’s “California Gurls” and anything by Flo Rida).
This time around, because Big Sis and her friends were looking for a cappella-worthy tunes, her selections were clever, vocal-intensive songs like Train’s “Hey, Soul Sister,” Bruno Mars’ “Just the Way You Are,” and one that really caught my attention, “Same Love,” a ballad from rap’s newest surprise star, Macklemore.
If you know Macklemore at all, it’s probably because you have kids (or grandkids) yourself, and you’ve heard his hit, “Thrift Shop” several hundred times over the last few months. It’s a parody of the way performers and their fans, especially on the nightclub scene, will spend lots of money keeping up with the latest clothing styles. Instead, in the song, Macklemore takes the last twenty bucks in his pocket and goes thrift shopping, buying a velour jump suit and house slippers so he can “take your grandpa’s style.”
As clever and entertaining as Macklemore can be, it took some lyric-scrubbing to play “Thrift Shop” on FM radio, and most of his songs have enough colorful language and R-rated behavior in them that cleaning them up for the airwaves would leave about ten seconds of bass line and maybe a “Bada-bada-bada” or two.
So, I was skeptical when I ventured out to look up the lyrics to “Same Love.” What I found surprised me—first as a dad, then as a music lover.
It turns out, the song is Macklemore’s pitch for acceptance of same-sex marriage, created by the Seattle-based rapper last year, when the issue was on the ballot in the state of Washington (the referendum was approved, with 54% of voters saying yes).
In “Same Love,” Macklemore candidly sings, “If I was gay, I would think hip-hop hates me,” then he goes on to explain:
It’s the same hate that’s caused wars from religion
Gender to skin color, the complexion of your pigment
The same fight that led people to walk outs and sit ins
It’s human rights for everybody, there is no difference!
Live on and be yourself
This is not the rap music I grew up with (and, honestly, have mostly avoided).
I found Big Sis and Little Sis perched in front of the television watching Meet the Robinsons, a Disney cartoon movie about a boy genius who invents robots and time machines, and asked them to hit the pause button for a few minutes.
Me: T, what made you pick this song for your playlist?
Big Sis: My friend sent me a link to the YouTube video. We watched it at school and liked it.
Me: Do you know what it’s about?
Big Sis: Of course, Dad—it’s about people being able to marry whoever they want to marry.
Little Sis: Can’t people already marry whoever they want to marry? My friend, K, has two moms.
Me: Well, in Massachusetts, yes, but not in most states, and not in most places in the world.
Little Sis: Why not?
Me: Um…
Big Sis: Because some people are afraid of things they don’t understand. So, Dad, can I have that song for my playlist?
Me: Yes, T, you can.
Little Sis: And can we turn the movie back on now?
Me: Yes, Z, go ahead.
Little Sis: Hey, Dad, one more question: If people know how to make movies about the future when robots talk to you and kids can travel in time, how come we can’t just make the future happen now?
Big Sis: Because, Z, sometimes you have to wait for people to catch up with the future.
Me: (Smiling.)
