Jay-Z, the 42-year-old hip-hop mogul, has announced his backing for President Barack Obama‘s support of same-sex marriage, comparing the issue to discrimination against black people.
During a press conference to announce a “Made In America” music festival taking place in Philadelphia this summer, the rapper spoke about the legalisation of gay marriage.
“I’ve always thought it as something that was still, um, holding the country back,” Jay-Z told CNN Monday.
Although religious leaders have seen the issue as one of religious freedom, to define marriage through scriptural guidance, Jay-Z expressed his opinion that he believed it was solely an issue of discrimination: “What people do in their own homes is their business and you can choose to love whoever you love. That’s their business. [It] is no different than discriminating against blacks. It’s discrimination plain and simple.”
ALSOÂ SEE:Â Meet The Most Popular Nigerian Transgender Women.
Obama vocalised that he was in support of gay marriage last week, citing the “golden rule” as his reason.
“Do unto others as you would have them do to you,” the president said in an interview with ABC News. “At a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.”
