Editing Garth Brooks (section)

===Support for gay rights===
In a 1999 interview with ''[[George (magazine)|George]]'', Brooks said, "But if you're in love, you've got to follow your heart and trust that God will explain to us why we sometimes fall in love with people of the same sex."<ref name="George" /><ref name="GayToday">{{cite web|url=http://gaytoday.badpuppy.com/garchive/entertain/040599en.htm|title=GLAAD's Hollywood Hotsheet|last=Horn|first=William|work=Gay Today|access-date=February 28, 2014|archive-date=March 19, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319004118/http://gaytoday.badpuppy.com/garchive/entertain/040599en.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Lyrics to his song, "We Shall Be Free", features the line, "When we're free to love anyone we choose," which has been interpreted as a reference to same-sex relationships.<ref name="George">{{cite news|date=April 1999|title=[[George (magazine)|George]]|quote="What's odd is that nobody assumed it could mean interracial marriages or interfaith marriages. They immediately went straight to the homosexual thing."}}</ref> Brooks won a 1993 [[GLAAD Media Award]] for the song.

In 2000, Brooks appeared at the [[Equality Rocks]] benefit concert for [[gay rights]]. He sang a duet with openly gay singer [[George Michael]].<ref name="CMTNews">{{cite web|url=http://www.cmt.com/news/news-in-brief/1476896/garth-brooks-george-michael-to-duet-at-gay-rights-benefit.jhtml|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140228113033/http://www.cmt.com/news/news-in-brief/1476896/garth-brooks-george-michael-to-duet-at-gay-rights-benefit.jhtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 28, 2014|title=Garth Brooks, George Michael to Duet at Gay Rights Benefit|date=April 4, 2000|work=[[CMT (American TV channel)|CMT News]]|access-date=February 28, 2014}}</ref>

Brooks' half-sister, Betsy Smittle, who died in 2013, was a musician who released her own album ''Rough Around the Edges'' (as Betsy) and was part of Brooks' band for some years. She also worked with the late country star [[Gus Hardin]] and other musicians in Tulsa. Smittle was a lesbian, and Brooks has credited her with some of the inspiration for his support for same-sex marriage.<ref name="TulsaWorld">{{cite web|url=http://www.tulsaworld.com/obituaries/localobituaries/betsy-smittle-superstar-garth-brooks-half-sister-and-former-bandmate/article_096f70ca-7412-5cbf-b062-469f8362793e.html|title=Betsy Smittle, superstar Garth Brooks' half-sister and former bandmate, dies at 60|last=Stanley|first=Tim|date=November 7, 2013|work=[[Tulsa World]]|access-date=February 28, 2014}}</ref><ref name="OklahomaRock">{{cite web|url=http://oklahomarock.com/betsy-smittle-tulsa-musician-and-garth-brooks-sister-dead-at-60/|title=Betsy Smittle, Tulsa Musician and Garth Brooks' Sister, Dead at 60|date=November 4, 2013|work=OklahomaRock.com|access-date=February 28, 2014|archive-date=March 4, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140304160427/http://oklahomarock.com/betsy-smittle-tulsa-musician-and-garth-brooks-sister-dead-at-60/|url-status=dead}}</ref>