Snoop Dogg has stressed that he is an ally of the LGBTQ+ community.

The 53-year-old rapper was criticised earlier this year after stating that he was "scared" to take his grandkids to the cinema after being taken by surprise by a same-sex relationship in the 2022 Pixar movie Lightyear but has now expressed his support by partnering with GLAAD in support of Spirit Day, an LGBTQ+ youth anti-bullying initiative.

In conversation with The Voice star Jeremy Beloate - who identifies as queer and was on Snoop's team in the series - the Drop It Like It's Hot rapper said: "It's a beautiful thing that kids can have parents of all walks and be shown love, to be taught what love is... being able to have parents from all walks of life, whether it be two fathers, two mothers, whatever it is, love is the key."

Snoop and Jeremy have collaborated on a new song called Love Is Love, which will feature in the star's animated children's YouTube series Doggyland, and he explained that he wanted to tell youngsters that love comes in several forms.

He said: "At the end of the day, it's all about love - that's what we're teachin' the kids with Love Is Love.

"Partnering with GLAAD just felt right, because spreading love and respect for everybody is what real gangstas do. We're showin' the next generation that kindness is cool, inclusion is powerful, and love always wins."

Snoop faced a backlash after questioning why astronaut Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba) had a child with her wife in Lightyear, a movie that also featured Disney Pixar's first same-sex kiss.

He said on the It's Giving podcast in August: "(The kids) are like, 'She had a baby - with another woman.' Well, my grandson, in the middle of the movie is like, 'Papa Snoop? How she have a baby with a woman? She's a woman!'"

Snoop added: "Oh s***, I didn't come in for this s***. I just came to watch the goddamn movie.

"They just said, 'She and she had a baby - they're both women. How does she have a baby?'

"It f***** me up. I'm like, scared to go to the movies.

"Y'all throwing me in the middle of s*** that I don't have an answer for… it threw me for a loop.

"I'm like, 'What part of the movie was this?' These are kids. We have to show that at this age? They're going to ask questions. I don't have the answer."

The Gin and Juice hitmaker later confessed that he is "not perfect" and is willing to learn from the controversy.

He commented beneath a video from Hollywood Unlocked about his remarks: "I was just caught off guard and had no answer for my grandsons.

"All my gay friends [know] what's up. They been calling me with love. My bad for not knowing the answers for a 6-year-old. Teach me how to learn. I'm not perfect.(sic)"