Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Talk to Colbert About Homophobia, Perform Gay Marriage Anthem: VIDEO

"I think that in the last year alone hip-hop has made great strides in terms of being more open-minded," Macklemore tells Stephen Colbert before he and Ryan Lewis performed "Same Love", their anthem about marriage equality.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Take Message Around the World in 'Can't Hold Us' Video: WATCH

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis turn out an epic video for their track "Can't Hold Us" featuring Ray Dalton in which they deliver a flag emblazoned with the name of their album The Heist to their native Seattle while having fun with camels, galleons, and sled dogs along the way.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

A Macklemore 'Thrift Shop' Parody for AIDS Healthcare Foundation: VIDEO

Pauley Perret, Anika Noni Rose, Verne Troyer, Kat Graham and Josie Loren are among those in a new HIV awareness clip for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation parodying Macklemore's 'Thrift Shop' at the 'Out of the Closet' thrift stores.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Macklemore Speaks Out Against Homophobia in Music, Sports: VIDEO

The 'You Can Play' project, which fights homophobia in sports, celebrates its one-year anniversary next week. Today, they've got a new video out from Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.

Given the semantics of the organization's name, the message fits nicely in the music world too.

"You know someone who’s gay, they just haven’t told you yet," says Macklemore in the clip, adding, "Don’t let being gay hold you back, and if you’re straight, do not hold others back...Anti-gay language has no place in sports, or music."

Check out Macklemore's message, AFTER THE JUMP...

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #1282

INVISIBLE DRIVER: Magician plays awesome prank on fast food workers.

GIANT SQUID: New video of the elusive deepwater creature.

"POT SHOP": A pardoy of Macklemore's hit single "Thrift Shop."

"EXPLOITED": Larry Ward, the man behind a disgusting event called Gun Appreciation Day, claims the President and other gun foes "exploited" Sandy Hook.

For recent Guides to the Tube, click HERE.

150 Game Changing Wins that Made 2012 the Gayest Year Ever

A remarkably short four decades ago, the Stonewall Revolt of 1969 opened the flood gates for LGBT rights. The closet, so sturdy for so long, started being swept away in a rush of pride. Still, LGBT Americans lived in a culture of "tolerance," a popular euphemism for enduring.

There have been momentous years since then — both Barney Frank's 1987 coming out and the 2003 Supreme Court ruling overturning anti-sodomy laws come to mind — but when we look back in twenty years time or ten or even five, 2012 will be remembered as quantum leap for LGBT rights in the United States of America. It's the year that equality went from being a far-off dream to becoming an inevitable, immutable and irreversible reality. Even Newt Gingrich agrees!

This was the year of equality, the year the American dream came into sharper focus and the nation crossed from begrudgingly tolerating gays, and sometimes even acknowledging their relationships, to demanding our inclusion in the greater American family. Coming out is for the large part no longer a big deal, which is a big deal in and of itself.

There have never been as many out and proud elected officials; never before has Wall Street embraced us with such force; never before have so many conservatives admitted they need to shift gears on marriage equality and embrace change. This was a year of "never before" and "never again."

AFTER THE JUMP, 150 reasons why 2012 was a year of permanence for LGBT Americans, a year that the next wave of rights began its swoop across the purple mountain majesty and above the fruited plain.

And for more of our 2012 Year in Review, be sure to read "I'm Gay: 50 Most Powerful Comings Outs of 2012" HERE.