Macklemore’s ‘Same Love’
The video to Macklemore’s Same Love features spans the lives of a gay couple.

A teacher from North Carolina has been suspended for showing a group of students a music video with a pro-gay marriage message.

According to the Charlotte Observer, a staff member from West Alexander Middle School was reported to school officials after playing Macklemore's 'Same Love' in a critical theory class.

The gay rights song addresses the straight rapper's personal feelings about the controversial issue of same-sex relationships. The accompanying music video spans the lives of a gay couple, who go on to have a happy marriage.

"At West Alexander Middle School, there was an inappropriate video shown in class, outside the bounds of the curriculum that called for disciplinary action last week," Alexander County Schools Associate Superintendent Jeff Peal told the Taylorsville Times.

Peal did not name the teacher in question.

The song has gained worldwide recognition as a athem for gay equality. It has already racked up nearly 78 million views on Youtube.

It is the fourth single released by Macklemore from The Heist, his second album and first collaboration with producer Ryan Lewis.

In August Seattle-based Macklemore said he wanted the song to provoke discussion about isuses that people are afraid to address.

The artist described Same Love as "a very personal song" and claimed it was inspired by his gay uncles and godfather, saying: "I didn't want to cross any boundaries in terms of their privacy. But we actually ended up taking a picture of them and using it as the cover art for the single.

"I wanted the art to reflect how personal the song was, and they are a big reason why I'm so passionate about the issue."

In November 2012, Susan Johnson was suspended for three days from Detroit's Centennial Middle School, after she decided to let her students listen to the same video in her class.