Gospel Singer Kim Burrell Responds To Backlash Over Homophobic Sermon: Watch

Christina Lee | December 31, 2016 12:18 pm
The 10 Best Alt-Pop Albums Of 2016
Some sound familiar, but compared to the big-tent pop of 2016, they’re all strange.

Famed gospel singer Kim Burrell has long received adoration from the mainstream music industry. Past collaborators include Missy Elliott and Frank Ocean, who featured Burrell in this year’s critically acclaimed Blond. On January 5, Burrell and Pharrell will perform off the latter’s official soundtrack for Hidden Figures, on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

But the latest wave of attention toward Burrell isn’t for words of praise. Currently, she is facing backlash for a recent sermon she gave about “that perverted homosexual spirit,” as a senior pastor at a Pentecostal church in Houston, Texas. Last night (December 30) she responded via Facebook Live, telling both her critics and supporters not to fight with each other. But she also refused to apologize.

“There are a lot of people that I’m aware of that struggle or deal [with] or have that spirit,” she said on Facebook Live. “Have I discriminated against them? Have I ever outright told them that I don’t love you and you going to hell? Who gives me the right to say that I’m telling someone that I’m going to hell? I don’t give that call.”

Burrell’s sermon was much harsher. “I came to tell you about sin,” she said, adding, “That perverted homosexual spirit, and the spirit of delusion and confusion, it has deceived many men and women. You as a man, you open your mouth and take a man’s penis in your face, you are perverted. You are a woman and will shake your face in another woman’s breasts, you are perverted.”

What makes the situation ironic is that, for one, Ellen DeGeneres has long been a public face of the LGBT community. Because his music has addressed his sexual fluidity, Frank Ocean has also been embraced by the very folks Burrell just blasted.

Below, see Kim Burrell’s sermon, the backlash, and Burrell’s attempt to respond below.

[via BET]

Keep up with more pop music news by hitting us up on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.