In many hip-hop songs, you’ll hear homophobic slurs being thrown around. For years, homophobia has been an accepted part of hip-hop culture. Although the culture has been quite slow to change, finally a shift is happening.

Frank Ocean, a member of the alternative hip-hop collective Odd Future, recently came out to the world as bisexual and revealed on his blog that his first love was in fact a man. When this young, up-and-coming singer made his announcement, he received a great deal of support from the music world with encouraging words from 50 Cent, Nas, Jamie Foxx, Russell Simmons, Beyoncé and Tyler, The Creator. All of the encouragement and good wishes show that there has been a change in the hip-hop community.

Support for Frank Ocean reflects the overall support for LGBTQ people in our generation, and it’s great to see change happening in the hip-hop industry. So many people are influenced by this genre of music. Homophobic lyrics encourage more homophobia, and the last thing that needs to be encouraged is more homophobia or transphobia, which can lead to violence against LGBTQ people. The industry still isn’t perfect, but it’s great to see that change has started.