"I now pronounce you husband and.. husband."

Carlos McKnight at the White House

Same-sex relationships have been around for many years and have become common. Nowadays it isn’t unusual to see males or females holding hands and although it’s common ground for females, the intention and relationship shared between the couple may be more than that of BFFs.

The legalization of same-sex marriage in countries like Spain, South Africa and Sweden (in terms of which legalized first) to name a few has made it easier for the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) community to express themselves better without being criticized by people who don’t see them as “normal” and has helped people live with and accept the differences of other people.

Countries where gay marriage is legal.

The United States of America had been one of the few countries that had not yet legalized gay marriage. This decision was argued from the 28^th of April 2015 and as of the 26^th of June 2015; the US Supreme Court reached a ruling for all states to issue marriage licenses tosame-sex couples and to recognize same-sex marriages validly performed in other jurisdictions.

This hashtag was very powerful in many social media platforms (although #LoveWins was more popular) as it was reportedly used over 5 million times in 24 hours according to the social analysis site Topsy.com founded (but was later deactivated) by Apple. This showed just how much of an impact it had on the people and to what extent the issue would be taken. It became a global trend as activists, celebrities and even president Obama used it to celebrate the final decision.

How the Supreme court ruled on same-sex marriage.

It was reported that over 10 million tweets were composed about the Supreme Court’s decision, this was also an advantage to many companies like Starbucks, Ketel One Vodka and Honey Maid Snacks as it was a chance for them to market their products and be part of the conversation. Many companies shared videos and pictures, renamed their products and displayed the rainbow image that is used as an international LGBT symbol for pride.

Over 6 million Facebook users were announced as identifying themselves as part of the LGBTQ (the Q standing for “Queer” which applies to young people questioning their sexuality). This has helped people express themselves a little more without being ashamed of their sexual orientation.

What was important about the whole situation was that the LGBT community be given the right to marry like each and every couple, for them to be viewed as similar to everybody else and not be judged and for young kids to grow up not being ashamed of their sexual orientation and to take pride in it. At the end of the day, love won.

MAMA HE MADE IT!!!

Probably one of the most contemplated events of the year, #FillUpTheDome, took place on the 31^st of October last year at the TicketPro Dome in Northgate. As the late and great Biggie Smalls said, “It was all a dream.” 

Refiloe Phoolo (better known by his stage name Cassper Nyovest) had made his 2014 dream a reality when he filled up the dome.

Born in the North West in a small town called Mafikeng, Cassper Nyovest had made waves when he got signed to well-known South African music legend Hip Hop Pantsula (HHP). This impacted a lot on his career as he then became noticeable and was on the fast track to becoming a household name. 

A very ambitious lad as he is, Nyovest made a claim on Twitter that he would one day fill up the The Dome (which is now called the Ticketpro Dome) and of course many people were skeptical of this.

Cassper is a very influential artist on and off social media so it was not hard for him to convince people to attend his event. He, together with his label, Family Tree used the positive (and negative) publicity to their advantage to help create awareness of #FUTD (Fill Up The Dome).

It cannot be denied that Cassper is a marketing genius. The artist announced that for every #FUTD ticket purchased, a free copy of his second self-entitled album Refiloe would be given away FOR FREE and although some people felt this was a generous gesture from Nyovest, some also understood his marketing and sales strategy while others questioned whether or not the move was valid or not.

Social media was used as the backbone for this campaign as many other artists helped by making up competitions for people to win tickets to the event. Because of Nyovest's on-again-off-again head-butting with fellow musician Keirnan Forbes (aka, AKA), there were doubts of the former actually achieving his dream but this was actually one of the things that helped sell the tickets as some people claimed to be only attending the event to spite AKA and his fans. Sad.

The night came then went, being described as "special" having reached his 20K goal of his very own event attended by fans and high-profile celebrities. From that day onward Cassper had been a very busy man, touring and doing numerous radio and television interviews promoting his new album and reminiscing on #FUTD. - Mama he truly made it.