Whout the artistic and emotnal ntributns of gay people there would be no gospel mic. This is the provotive and nvcg claim ma by Anthony Heilbut his majtic new book, "The Fan Who Knew Too Much."
Contents:
- WHO'S GAY GOSPEL MIC?
- GAYS, GOD AND GOSPEL MIC
- CHRISTIAN ROCK STAR OUT AS GAY. HERE’S THE LETTER HE WROTE TO THE WORLD
- BLACKS, GAYS AND THE CHURCH: A COMPLEX RELATNSHIP
- FOR GAY CHRISTIAN MICIANS, WORK BALANC FAH, ART, LOVE
- THE GAY SISTERS
WHO'S GAY GOSPEL MIC?
* gospel gay artists *
The 22-year-old son of a gospel sger father is clearly and proudly subvertg relig inography and mic to glorify homoerotic sire — and dog so, promptg a natnal nversatn about homophobia wh the Baptist church and Black Christian culture as a ’s more, Lil Nas X is far om the the only Black queer mician explorg the lk between relign and queerns through art.
Multidisciplary artist Lazas Lynch tradnal gospel harmoni his 2020 sgle, “I’m Gay, ” on which he proclaims, “I’m so ee jt beg myself. ” His words drown out the background noise of a preacher screamg, “God n't e no men tryna be women, ” and other homophobic drivel.
” at a Swchfoot ncert, a practice she advot dog orr to publicly force ‘Christian’ artists to nont their homophobia and outdated and amoral views on homosexualy. (In rponse to that ll out, Swchfoot’s Jon Foreman rpond to the axg of a queer “Christian” artist qutng his pro-LGBTQ+ creds, tellg her that LGBTQ+ people are always wele at his ncerts and that he supports gay rights and eedoms. Whe southern gospel mic seems like a strange source of pleasure for a "gay, secular humanist amic, " as Douglas Harrison intifi himself (17).
GAYS, GOD AND GOSPEL MIC
(RNS) 'I never wanted to be gay,' Trey Pearson said. 'I was sred of what God would thk and what all of the people I loved would thk about me.' * gospel gay artists *
Guid by theologil fundamentalism and social nservatism, southern gospel's performers and fans tend to take a dim view of homosexualy. In 2003, gospel sger Kirk Talley was "outed" when the FBI arrted a man who attempted to blackmail Talley wh suggtive photographs he shared on a gay web se.
First, how n a homosexual nonbeliever like Harrison, who as a youth was a "Southern Baptist sissy, " who dreamed of beg a southern gospel star until he me out and suffered the nsequenc for dog so by a reprsive relig culture, still fd ecstatic "glory-rollg joy" southern gospel mic? Dpe his clear disda for the homophobia, fundamentalism, and, at tim, racism lurkg beneath the surface of whe southern gospel, he do not bee polemil or "substute one set of moral dogmas for another. If racism and distct unrstandgs of gospel mic's meang and purpose have rerced s separatn as genr, whe and black gospel n, neverthels, fd mon ground wh their shared tradns of homophobia.
CHRISTIAN ROCK STAR OUT AS GAY. HERE’S THE LETTER HE WROTE TO THE WORLD
offers spirual rourc for lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr Christians, cludg books by Ktredge Cherry. Books and patgs prent the gay J Christ, queer sats, and other LGBT Christian them. * gospel gay artists *
Then Sgs My Soul was released jt one month before Anthony Heilbut's The Fan Who Knew Too Much, portns of which open a door to what he lls the "secret closet" of gays black gospel mic. The tend dienc of each book may not overlap but they both expose the hypocrisy of the gay-gospel paradox nservative Christian culture and, hopefully, will force broar bate.
His immersn the gospel world exposed him to the genre's "fay secret": gay people formed the heart and soul of black gospel mic while the fundamentalism of church and clergy kept them the closet. "Arch-homophob" the gospel muny, Heilbut wr, equently sg "the mic of gay people, acknowledgg wh every breath and step that if you banished the sissi and the bull daggers [gospel sger Shirley Caar's homophobic aspersns], the tabernacle might cmble.
" Harrison's gay-gospel paradox transcends race and uld be applied to any homophobic area of Amerin life, but the hypocrisy seems all the more glarg, as Heilbut emphasiz, a mil and relig culture that played such a pivotal role the civil rights movement. Freedman, "Usg Gospel Mic's Secrets to Conont Black Homophobia, " The New York Tim, June 1, 2012, accsed Augt 4, 2012, ; Louis Bayard, "Review of Anthony Heilbut's 'The Fan Who Knew Too Much, '" The Washgton Post, Augt 3, 2012, accsed Augt 5, 2012,. For more on the difficulti faced by black gospel sgers who e out as gay see, Kelefah Sanneh, "Revelatns: A Gospel Sger Com Out, " The New Yorker, Febary 8, 2010, 48–57,.
BLACKS, GAYS AND THE CHURCH: A COMPLEX RELATNSHIP
While many black pastors nmn homosexualy om the pulp, the choir lofts behd them are often filled wh gay sgers and micians. The fact that gays and lbians often hold learship posn the church is the worst kept secret black Ameri. * gospel gay artists *
Ironilly, Harrison tak Heilbut to task Then Sgs My Soul for his ial discsn of homosexualy gospel culture The Gospel Sound. Goodman has been imated by other sgers, cludg mal, while also beg a character habed by drag queens gay bars throughout the South. For an dience a gay bar, wr Harrison, gospel drag "transmutat the gospel classic to a ll for actn on the part of the dience" (144).
"If orthodox evangelil popular culture has a vted tert portrayg the gay-gospel nnectn as a sful paradox, " Harrison persuasively argu, " is no small part an attempt to efface the fact that sner and sat alike e to the mic as nonnformists—real or imaged, gay or straight, and everythg between—drawn to southern gospel's dramatic renrg of spirual margaly and social misftedns" (148). It is a ncln that would ronate wh equal power Heilbut's discsn of homosexualy and hypocrisy black gospel culture.
FOR GAY CHRISTIAN MICIANS, WORK BALANC FAH, ART, LOVE
Everyday Sunday's Trey Pearson may have revealed a new tth g out as gay, but as for whether that will set him ee the world of Christian mic, dtry veterans -- and former CCM artists like Jennifer Knapp and Vicky Beechg -- have their doubts about whether he n expect an embrace gospel circl. * gospel gay artists *
Throughout the middle s of the 20th century, a signifint number of gay or "queer" artists left their mark on gospel mic, a cultural form that many nsir to be Ameri's most origal. Ined, the ntributn of gays and lbians to gospel mic has been so large as to be absolutely "ccial and fundamental. The say on "the children, " the faial appellatn ed to refer to gays the church, is siar ntent and theme to "The Gospel Sound" that Heilbut is keen on revealg the gospel world all s plexy, paradox and ntradictn.
It may not do much for Mahalia Jackson's "satly image" to know that she was notorly stgy and uld cs like a sailor, but fills out her human portra jt say on "the children, " however, is more a medatn on homosexualy and black church. Heilbut gets beyond simply acknowledgg the prence of gays black church and the fact that gospel artists such as Sam Cooke, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Alex Bradford and Jam Cleveland (to name only a few) were known to be gay or "queer.
" He intifi a time when black church were safe spac for "the children, " a time when gays and lbians sought and found refuge church that not only acknowledged their prence but also their value.
THE GAY SISTERS
“Gays and Gospel,” a tribute to the LGBTQ+ muny and all the ntributns has ma to gospel mic om s genis the 1920’s until today will be held on “Natnal Comg Out Day.” The ee event explor the tensns, challeng and triumphs of the LGBTQ+ muny gospel mic. * gospel gay artists *
For this reason, many black gays and lbians once were among "the most fahful members" of black church and "the most avid celebrants" of s worship culture. When he surveys the current world of gospel, seeg (wh some exceptns) so far om s glor past and so nial of s gay roots, the anger and the grief nearly overtake is soberg to regnize that what Heilbut ultimately acplish the say is an acuntg of gospel mic's fall om grace to near irrelevance.
He knows that the overemphasis on nmng homosexualy that one fds the gospel world and many black church is not a sign of prophetic wns. If that is te, then that is precisely what we have Anthony Heilbut, the fan who perhaps knows a ltle too much but has found a betiful way to tell all about through for a slishow of the greatt Gospel songs:Gospel SongsRelatedRelign and SexualyslipollajaxChristianyGay ChristiansSacred Sounds.
His study of the Scriptur, he says, has led him to believe that the handful of Bible vers that directly addrs homosexualy do not prohib the kd of lovg, mted gay relatnships known to the morn world.