Kim Burrell Defends Her Homophobic Sermon, Says She Was Talking to "Church People"
Gospel artist, television personality and pastor Kim Burrell incited backlash with a sermon denouncing those who possess a "homosexual spirit" she delivered at the church leads in Houston.
“That perverted homosexual spirit, and the spirit of delusion and confusion, it has deceived many men and women,” Burrell told the congregation. “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 breast, you are perverted.”
The remarks quickly went viral.
This type of rhetoric isn't unusual in Christian churches, but Burrell's comments are particularly pointed because of a scheduled appearance on Ellen to promote the Hidden Figures soundtrack. Burrell also sang on a track on Frank Ocean's latest album, Blonde. Ocean has not publicly declared he is gay, but he wrote an open letter in 2012 about falling in love with a man.
Burrell said she was't attacking gay people, "I never said LGBT last night. I said S-I-N," she explained.
She said she is not "shaken" by the backlash. "Don't you understand I know that people are going to be mad. I have to do what God tells me to do," she said.
The response, she said, is based on a misinterpretation of her words.
“So many people seem to be affected by something that is such a lie,” Burrell said. “I never said that all gays were going to Hell. That never came out of my mouth. Y’all quit spreading that.”
Her sermon, she says, were for a group who heard it.
“I was addressing church people,” Burrell said. “See? See how misconstrued y’all got it? I was addressing church people. And let’s get even more specific—ones who were in my church.”
After the video went viral, Pharrell Williams, who produced the Hidden Figures soundtrack and has performed with Burrell to support it, posted this message on Instagram.
"I condemn hate speech. There is no room in this world for any kind of prejudice. My greatest hope is for inclusion and love for all humanity in 2017 and beyond."
. Drawing on her own past experience as an evangelical minister and her present work as a secular counselor and researcher, she makes a direct connection between the church and the plight of black women, who are the single most religious demographic in the United States, yet among the poorest, least educated, and least healthy groups in the nation. Through interviews with African-American women who have left the church, the author reveals the shame and suffering often caused by the church—and the resulting happiness, freedom, and sense of purpose these women have felt upon walking away from it. She calls on other black women to honestly reflect on their relationship with religion and challenges them to consider that perhaps the answers to their problems rest not inside a church, but in themselves.