Snoop Dogg teams up with GLAAD in support of LGBTQIA+ community following Lightyear controversy

Snoop Dogg shared his appreciation for parents from all backgrounds after facing backlash earlier for his comments about a same-sex couple in Disney’s Lightyear. Snoop Dogg teamed up with GLAAD to mark Spirit Day on Thursday, October 16, releasing a new track titled “Love Is Love” alongside a candid discussion with The Voice alum Jeremy Beloate, whom he had previously coached on the NBC singing competition.

“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 Dogg said during their conversation, which was shared on his official YouTube channel.

Snoop Dogg went on to add,

“I think that being able to have parents of all walks of life, 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 showing them an example of what a family is.”

In a separate statement to Out, Snoop Dogg explained his motivation behind the collaboration.

“At the end of the day, it’s all about love — that’s what we’re 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. We’re showin’ the next generation that kindness is cool, inclusion is powerful, and love always wins.”

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Snoop Dogg says he struggled to explain Lightyear’s same-sex couple to his grandson:

Snoop Dogg reflected on his uneasy experience watching Pixar’s Lightyear, saying the animated film left him hesitant to take his grandchildren to the movies again. The 2022 Toy Story spinoff reintroduced Buzz Lightyear with a new supporting cast, among them Alisha Hawthorne, Buzz’s friend and commanding officer. In a short sequence, Alisha Hawthorne is shown raising a child with her wife and sharing a quick kiss, a scene that sparked debate when the film premiered.

Speaking on the It’s Giving podcast, Snoop Dogg said his grandson had turned to him mid-movie with a question he wasn’t prepared for: how Alisha could have a child with another woman.

“Oh s---, I didn’t come in for this s---. I just came to watch the goddamn movie, it f---ed me up. I’m, like, scared to go to the movies now. Y’all throwing me in the middle of s--- that I don’t have an answer for. These are kids, we have to show that at this age? They’re going to ask questions. I don’t have the answer,” shared Snoop Dogg.

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Pixar’s Lightyear faces censorship after same-sex kiss sparks controversy:

Lightyear, Pixar’s prequel to the 1995 beloved classic, ran into censorship in several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Malaysia, and the UAE. The bans came after Pixar’s parent company, Disney, refused to remove a same-sex couple and their kiss from the story. At the London premiere, producer Galyn Susman told Reuters:

“We’re not going to cut out anything, especially something as important as the loving and inspirational relationship that shows Buzz what he’s missing by the choices that he’s making, so that’s not getting cut.”

Chris Evans, who voiced Buzz, reflected on the controversy in a 2022 Variety interview, saying he was frustrated that a same-gender kiss “even has to be a topic of discussion.” He added,

“The goal is that we can get to a point where it is the norm, and that this doesn’t have to be some uncharted waters — that eventually this is just the way it is. That representation across the board is how we make films.”

The debate highlighted long-standing tensions at Pixar. In 2022, a group of employees, signing a statement as the “LGBTQIA+ Employees of Pixar & Their Allies,” criticized Disney executives for attempting to erase

“nearly every moment of overtly gay affection … regardless of when there is protest from both the creative teams and executive leadership at Pixar.”

The employees added:

“We at Pixar have personally witnessed beautiful stories, full of diverse characters, come back from Disney corporate reviews shaved down to crumbs of what they once were. Even if creating LGBTQIA+ content was the answer to fixing the discriminatory legislation in the world, we are being barred from creating it,”

The internal criticism came after a memo from former Disney CEO Bob Chapek, who explained the company’s choice not to publicly respond to a Florida law limiting lessons about gender and sexuality. Chapek underscored Disney’s “unwavering commitment to the LGBTQ+ community” and said, “the biggest impact we can have in creating a more inclusive world is through the inspiring content we produce.”

Snoop Dogg’s collaboration with GLAAD came amid the ongoing discussions around Lightyear and LGBTQ representation in film. While the movie faced bans in several countries, Snoop’s involvement highlighted the attention the controversy attracted and the conversations it sparked across the entertainment industry.