Donnie McClurkin's self-hatred is a teachable moment for lgbt community

From my online buddy Rod 2.0 comes this hot mess:

Donnie McClurkin ramps up the ridiculous to speak in tongues and call gays "vampires". The infamously "ex-gay"—or should we say merely "re-closeted"—Grammy Award winning gospel singer and evangelist rants against gays, gay youth and recently out gospel singer Tonex at the Church of God in Christ's Holy Convocation Youth Service. This happened last Saturday at the COGIC convention in Memphis.


In the first of three disgusting YouTube videos, McClurkin begins his rant against Tonex, the gospel star and minister who recently confirmed his long-rumored sexuality. McClurkin says Tonex is a "perversion" and must pray away the gay: "God did not call young people to such peversion. Society has failed him, his church has failed him ... I would be homosexual to this day if Jesus hadn't delivered."


McClurkin also rails against against openly gay youth as "broken and feminine": "I see feminine men, feminine boys, everywhere I go ... No, don't applaud 'cuz it ain't funny. It's because we failed. I see them everywhere."

And just so the young lesbians aren't felt "left out," he says the following in the second video:

"These young girls are just as bad as the boys in homosexuality, you don't see it. They can hide ... but there are some evil young hard butch girls."

The videos Rod speaks of are here:







Quite a different turn of phrase from McClurkin who, a couple of years ago when he selling a book, was quoted as saying that he wasn't "anti-gay:"

"What I say in the book is simply this: If you're gay, and you're happy, if you don't think you need to change, stay just how you are. But there are some people who are in the gay and bisexual lifestyle that are broken . . ." - Donnie McClurkin puts the focus back on traditional gospel - in secular music, The Associated Press, 2005

I guess when you don't have a book to sell, you don't need to kiss as much ass.

Also, I'm confused about McClurkin's statement about no longer being gay. According to this link, the story of his "deliverance" keeps shifting. 

Honestly speaking though, if McClurkin has a problem with "feminine acting" men and boys, he really needs to leave the black church experience. I mean just who is McClurkin trying to kid?

Certainly not myself, Rod 2,0 or anyone else who is aware of  the black church experience. The black church is filled to the brim with gay men.

Gospel singer Tonex is probably the only who had the guts to come out and be honest.

But my rant is two-fold.

I know some folks out there are going to use this moment to bring up Obama aligning with McClurkin in 2007  to garner votes.

And to do so would be a mistake.

Certainly there is a point to be made about the Obama/McClurkin past allegiance, but I am willing to bet that while everyone is going to be so eager to make that point, the fact that McClurkin has just specifically harmed the well-being of  young lgbts of color will be obscured.

To me as a gay man of color, that's a real problem.

We will get angry because we have felt the brush of McClurkin's slap. Are we going to forget those young lgbts of color who have felt the full sting of it?

Who is going to be there to hold up their heads in the face of such an ugly onslaught?

Who is going to be there to tell them that McClurkin is a self-hating so-and-so who, despite his lovely voice and popularity, is a little more "broken" than he would like to realize and that he has absolutely no business passing judgement on the lives of people he doesn't even know.

Something needs to be said to these young lgbts of color because nine times out of ten, they don't have access to support networks like GLSEN and no one such as Dan Savage or Michelangelo Signorile is writing about them or their needs.

Will they be ignored again even in the middle of this situation in which they are potentially the most hurt?

Let's not get so caught up in our righteous indignation that we forget about these young folks. If we do, expect to see more Donnie McClurkins springing up like ecclesiastical weeds.

Related post:


WATCH: Donnie McClurkin Calls Gays "Vampires", Rants Against Tonex and Gay Youth at COGIC

The black community is phony and hypocritical when it comes to lgbt issues

Jon Stewart catches Sean Hannity falsifying footage - does anyone care?

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Complancency is a dangerous thing. When people are caught in lies, there should be at least some outrage.

And unfortunately I doubt there will be any outrage over this.

Why am I posting this? Because again it reminds me of how religious right groups have gotten away with spreading junk science and truncating legitimate studies against the lgbt community.

When you don't defuse lies at the start, it not only signals to those telling the lies that they can get away being inaccurate, it also has a way of creating a huge tsunami of nonsense that you find yourself having to fight later on.

GAY IN AMERICA (Color Lines Across Rainbow Skies) Loft XVA 68 Parts 1 and 2

Seeing that this is a holiday, I think it is appropriate for us to use this time to lay back and self-assess ourselves.

Religious right groups can wait for the time eing. They aren't going anywhere.

The following video, which I will be posting two at a time today, discusses something that should be talked about in the lgbt community:

Rhode Island governor to gay couples - you have no right to choose your partner's funeral arrangements

Regardless of what one feels about marriage equality (i.e. gay marriage), the actions by Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri is just wrong. It's meanspirited. The law has nothing to do with marriage so I don't necessarily see how it needs to be put up for a public vote. Why don't we just take it farther and vote on whether or not these folks should be buried at all.

It just highlights the hypocrisy of many of those against marriage equality:

An opponent of same-sex marriage, Governor Carcieri has vetoed bill that would have added "domestic partners'' to the list of people authorized by law to make funeral arrangements for each other.

In his veto message, Republican Carcieri said: "This bill represents a disturbing trend over the past few years of the incremental erosion of the principles surrounding traditional marriage, which is not the preferred way to approach this issue.

"If the General Assembly believes it would like to address the issue of domestic partnerships, it should place the issue on the ballot and let the people of the state of Rhode Island decide.''

The bill, also sponsored by state Sen. Rhoda Perry and state Rep. David Segal, would add "domestic partners'' to the list, in current law, of people who can legally make arrangements for a deceased person's funeral, cremation or burial to include domestic partners if the deceased person left no pre-arranged funeral contract.

More here

LGBT blogs should beware of the trolls and other Tuesday midday news briefs

Peter LaBarbera: The Liberty Counsel Has Called The FBI Over JMG Commenters - While this furthers my opinion that LaBarbera has a "jones" for Joe Jervis, it is a good lesson for those who post comments on lgbt blogs. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE watch what you say. There are folks trolling our blogs looking for comments to manipulate.
Man fired for advocating traditional marriage - Mark your calendars for this date. One News Now tries to walk back from the claim that Peter Vadala was fired for "merely" declaring his Christian opposition to marriage equality. The article mentions that letter of termination that clearly says Vadala called his fellow employee "deviant." Naturally the article hasn't posted any of the comments it has received. Feel free to post comments (I have) BUT BE NICE AND CORDIAL!

MSNBC anchor in Twitter fight with anti-gay church that picketed Obama kids’ school - Tasteless group picketing President Obama's children's school. Tacky, tacky, tacky.

Carrie Prejean: Standing Up For Conservative Women - More proof that Carrie Prejean is a hypocrite. Mercy this is too easy. Oh well at least she is laughing while on the way to the bank. And all it cost her was her integrity.

Carrie Prejean and Sean Hannity kiss the god of hypocrisy

I rarely look at Sean Hannity but his interview with Carrie Prejean is unbelievably ridiculous.

There are a few things I would like to point out:

It was a seven minute saccharine lovefest. Hannity did everything but kiss Prejean's feet. Maybe he should have pretended she was Kevin Jennings.

Prejean does address the sex tape controversy, making sure to term it as something she did for a boyfriend whom she "loved and cared about."

Next time, she should send cash.

And of course she continues to play the victim. The same line about how "the left isn't showing tolerance" is throughout this interview.

Prejean conveniently forgets that a lot of us on the left, including a lot of lgbts, supported her right to free speech and we felt that Perez Hilton went too far in attacking her.

However, we know a phony when we see one and when Prejean sought to extend the 15 minutes of fame afforded to her by Hilton's nonsense, that's when many of us began to part company with her.

Prejean's decision to align herself with the National Organization for Marriage irregardless of her duties as Miss California and her tacit approval of how the right was trying to canonize her is the main reason that a lot of folks are not taking her seriously.

It's a lesson that many should remember - don't put yourself on a pedestal if you have feet of clay.

And while she continues to make the conversation about herself, what about the countless lgbt couples who are the true victims of Prejean's pursuit of fame; the ones who don't make the speeches to phony pro-family groups or get to be interviewed on national news programs.

The ones who are denied relationship protection partly because of the false images she is putting out there. It seems that no one gives a damn about them and that's the real shame.

Lastly, Prejean says she is so proud of the book because it is the first one she wrote.

No offense, but if girlfriend wrote one word of that book without a ghost writer, then I'm Kim Kardashian slumming.

Let the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission wallow in the filth of its own ignorance

Next week, there will be a "challenge" to the new lgbt-inclusive hate crimes bill recently signed by President Obama. The "challenge" is being led by the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission:

On November 16th, CADC, along with other pro-family leaders and ministers, will go to Washington DC for a Rally for Religious Freedom. It will occur immediately in front of the Department of Justice.

Ministers, from various denominations, will preach the truth of the Word of God, especially the “politically incorrect” truth of the sin of homosexuality! We will challenge U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to charge this group of peacefully assembled clergy with a hate crime for simply preaching the Bible.

We will clearly establishing that this law cannot and will not silence God’s servants. We will continue to declare the whole counsel of God both publicly and in our pulpits. If we are arrested, we challenge the law in court.

This bold, public stand for Christ and freedom of speech will cost thousands of dollars. We need to pay for permits, rent a sound system and generators. We will need to send out press releases and get the word out to as many pro-family leaders and ministers as possible. There will be travel expenses and we also need to cover our ongoing overhead.

For those who need a reminder, the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission is that group which defends churches trying to exorcise lgbt children.

It's that same group which defends anti-gay hate groups run by discredited researchers who accuse gay men of molesting children and wallowing in feces.

In short, the CADC is a colossal joke.

And that is how we should treat its protest.

Hate crimes  legislation protects free speech and religious freedom. And I don't think that the CADC or any other group who will participate in this protest are actually dumb enough to advocate violent action against lgbts.

At least I hope not.

What CADC and the other groups are doing is ridiculous grandstanding.

However, I think that these groups are attempting to exploit the lgbt community's anger. I think that they are counting on some of us to be there at their "protest." They are counting on us to be extremely angry and extremely vocal. They are counting on us to shout them down so that they can portray themselves as innocent Christians beset by "evil homosexuals."

The solution to this reminds me of a story told to me about when the Ku Klux Klan came to a small town. The community leaders got together and organized a boycott. When the Klan came, no one was there to greet them, shout at them, or allow themselves to be exploited by the ugly words emanating from the hate group.

Certainly I am not saying that we should be absent when the CADC and their allies come to the Justice Department. What I am saying is that we should let them wallow in the filth of their own ignorance.

Everything is on our side here. If they advocate violent action against lgbts, then their Christian guise is eliminated. If they merely speak as to what they say are "Biblical words" about homosexuality and nothing happens to them (which it won't), then there is egg on their faces.

And if any of us is there when the latter happens, I think we should not only take note of the egg on their faces but also remind the nation of it every chance we get.

Related posts:

Christian Anti-Defamation Commission defends exorcists and hate groups from the 'scary gays'