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:
- EX-GAY GOSPEL SGER DONNIE MCCLURK UNR FIRE AFTER SPEAKG OUT AGAST SAME-SEX MARRIAGE RULG
- DERICK HADDON SEEKS TO RTORE KEV TERRY AFTER GAY SEX TAPE SNDAL
- WHO'S GAY GOSPEL MIC?
- BLACKS, GAYS AND THE CHURCH: A COMPLEX RELATNSHIP
- KENYAN GOSPEL ARTISTE OUT AS GAY
- THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985
- GAYS, GOD AND GOSPEL MIC
EX-GAY GOSPEL SGER DONNIE MCCLURK UNR FIRE AFTER SPEAKG OUT AGAST SAME-SEX MARRIAGE RULG
Grammy-wng gospel artist and preacher Hezekiah Walker has nied a recent report that he would be steppg down om his pastoral posn due to a secret homosexual liftyle The report, which was posted on miewsweekly , claimed that Walker had 147;e out of the closet 148; durg an 147;extremely bter 148; divorce between he and his wife, Monique Walker, and was planng to step down om his pastoral posn to live together wh his gay lover, who was reported as beg * gospel artist gay scandal *
| (Photo: BET Networks)Donnie McClurk, the pastor and gospel mic sger who said God livered him om "the curse" of homosexualy, is now unr fire om crics after speakg out agast last Friday's U.
DERICK HADDON SEEKS TO RTORE KEV TERRY AFTER GAY SEX TAPE SNDAL
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 artist gay scandal *
McClurk, 55, received some harsh cricism after he shared his terpretatn of the Bible's posn on homosexualy on Facebook last Friday.
WHO'S GAY GOSPEL MIC?
"Although some crics cid to shed light on McClurk's own homosexual past, the man of God did not shy away om reactg to some of his crics' msag. "After one Christian homosexual Facebook er qutned why his ss were sctized by believers more than heterosexual ss, McClurk sisted his post was not qutng anyone's relatnship wh God.
"At the end of his ial Facebook post, McClurk spoke about lovg all people, cludg homosexuals. "This is not the first time McClurk has received backlash for speakg up about his thoughts ncerng homosexualy. Ncert celebratg the 50th anniversary of the March on Washgton after sharg his personal ttimony of beg livered om pastor spoke about the matter on "The Tom Joyner Morng Show, " where he opened up about beg molted multiple tim as a child before engagg a homosexual liftyle.
Bee of his own history, McClurk sisted he is not homophobic. "You n't ll me a homophobic if I've been a homosexual, " he said on the rad show.
BLACKS, GAYS AND THE CHURCH: A COMPLEX RELATNSHIP
Kev Terry, the gospel sger who found the Kev Terry & Prested group, is reportedly mortified after a vio went viral of him allegedly performg an explic homosexual 's iend and fellow Christian sger Lil Mo recently spoke up about the up-and-g gospel artist, acknowledgg his feelgs on the matter. "Another dividual suggted that Terry was not the only person engagg homosexual acts the black church muny tweetg, "I hope black folk don't thk #KevTerry is the only one??
KENYAN GOSPEL ARTISTE OUT AS GAY
| (Photo: Derick Haddon)Derick Haddon, a mister and gospel mician, is attemptg to help risg gospel sger Kev Terry one year after a vio went viral of him allegedly performg an explic homosexual the latt episo of Haddon's h Oxygen realy televisn seri "Preacher's of L. Grammy-wng gospel artist and preacher Hezekiah Walker has nied a recent report that he would be steppg down om his pastoral posn due to a secret homosexual gospel artist and preacher Hezekiah Walker has nied a recent report that he would be steppg down om his pastoral posn due to a secret homosexual report, which was posted on, claimed that Walker had “e out of the closet” durg an “extremely bter” divorce between he and his wife, Monique Walker, and was planng to step down om his pastoral posn to live together wh his gay lover, who was reported as beg a official statement released late last month by Walker’s management said that, “It’s all li.
THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985
”Acrdg to Hunter, the origal news about Walker’s alleged homosexualy had first appeared on, a celebry gossip and news se that has posted a follow up to the story that clus claims that the Rev.
Jam Cleveland, another proment gospel artist who passed away 1991, was also a “closeted homosexual. Whe southern gospel mic seems like a strange source of pleasure for a "gay, secular humanist amic, " as Douglas Harrison intifi himself (17).
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.
GAYS, GOD AND GOSPEL MIC
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. The Gay-Gospel Paradox.
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. 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.