GLAAD to Honor Jay-Z Despite His Long History of Anti-Gay Lyrics

Rap mogul and Hollywood producer Jay-Z and his wife, pop megastar Beyonce, will be honored by gay rights group GLAAD this month for their role in “accelerating LGBTQ acceptance.”

GLAAD said Beyonce, who has a large gay fanbase, is being recognized for speaking out about marriage equality nationwide; for including members of the LBGTQ community in her music videos; and for dedicating one of her performances to the victims and survivors of the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting.

Jay-Z received the GLAAD Special Recognition Award last year for his song and video for “Smile,” which featured his mother Gloria Carter, who is a lesbian. GLAAD said the rap icon is being honored because of his inclusion of LGBTQ artists in his work, from Janet Mock to James Baldwin, and for his support of marriage equality.

GLAAD is honoring Jay-Z, though, despite the New York rapper’s long history of anti-gay slurs in his song lyrics.

In his 2001 song “Heart of the City (Ain’t No Love),” the 49-year-old raps:

Young fucks spittin’ at me, young rappers gettin’ at me
My nigga Big predicted this shit exactly
“Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems” – gotta move carefully
‘Cause faggots hate when you gettin’ money like athletes

In another song titled, “La-La-La (Excuse Me Miss Again),” Jay-Z raps:

Now I ain’t down with who like me or who like you
That’s gay, I ain’t into liking dudes no way

In the song, “22 Two’s,” the Grammy-winner also uses homophobic language:

Too many faggot niggas clockin’ my spendin’
Exercisin’ your gay-like minds like Richard Simmons

Jay-Z, with his proud feminist wife and campaign stops for Hillary Clinton, has seemingly earned the forgiveness of the social justice crowd.

Comedian Kevin Hart, however was pushed out of hosting the Oscars after online sleuths dug up years-old gay jokes he made. The difference between Hart and Jay-Z, however, is that Hart doesn’t get political with his fans.

Jay-Z, real name, Shawn Corey Carter, has no qualms about attacking President Donald Trump.

“He’s bringing out an ugly side of America that we wanted to believe was gone, and it’s still here. We still gotta deal with it,” the “Run This Town” rapper said of Trump in 2018.

“We have to talk about the N-word and we have to talk about why white men are so privileged in this country.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.