Earlier this week, country singer Steve Grand released a music video that has taken the country genre – and the world – by surprise, and the timing couldn’t be more perfect.
23 year old Steve Grand surprised the world when he released his video for his song “All American Boy,” a cheesily adorable typical country video that featured bonfires, dirt roads and swimming in a lake. The surprising part? Grand is singing his heart out about his unrequited love for another boy.
As the Huffington Post points out, Grand isn’t the first country singer to support gay rights. Dolly Parton, Martina McBride and Toby Keith are only three of many who have openly expressed how they support human rights.
Grand isn’t the first openly gay country singer. In 2012, Drake Jensen released a song titled “Scars” about how he struggled with being bullied as a gay teen as The Atlantic Wire points out. But Grand’s new video, which now has over 850,000 views on YouTube, has appealed to the world and taken the country genre by storm.
Perhaps the success of Grand’s song and video has to do with the fact that this has been a huge year for LGBT and human rights. Earlier this year DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) was declared unconstitutional and yesterday, July 17th, Queen Elizabeth II legalized gay marriage in England and Wales.
You can check out Steve Grand’s video below: