Singers Pharrell Williams and Janelle Monae are among the people slamming gospel singer Kim Burrell for calling gays and lesbians “perverted.”
A video clip surfaced on Dec. 30 showing Burrell preaching at the Love & Liberty Fellowship Pentecostal Overcoming Holy Church she founded in Houston.
During the sermon, the 44-year-old claims the “perverted homosexual spirit, and the spirit of delusion and confusion” has “deceived many men and women.”
She goes on to say: “You as a man, you open your mouth and take a man’s penis in your face — you are perverted … you are perverted! You are a woman and will shake your face in another woman’s breast, you are perverted.”
Burrell went on to imply that gays and lesbians will be punished by death in 2017.
Williams, who is scheduled to perform with Burrell this week on Ellen (they collaborated on “I See A Victory” for the Hidden Figures soundtrack), posted a message on Instagram on Jan. 1 in which he said he condemns hate speech of any kind.
“There is no room in this world for any kind of prejudice,” he wrote, without mentioning Burrell by name. “My greatest hope is for inclusion and love for all humanity in 2017 and beyond.”
Instagram / Pharrell Williams
Singer Janelle Monae, who stars in Hidden Figures, shared Williams’ post and added a message of her own.
“I unequivocally repudiate ANY AND ALL hateful comments against the LGBTQ community. Actually I'm tired of that label. We all belong to the same community, a shared community called humanity,” she wrote. “We cannot sit Idly by nor will we speak silently when we are confronted with such violence against members of our community.
“My advice: If your religion is causing you to spew out words of hate, judge, or look down on others because of who one loves then you need to change it. And fast.”
Hidden Figures co-star Octavia Spencer also shared Williams’ post and captioned it with: "I agree. We are all God's children equal in his eyes. Hatred isn't the answer. Intolerance isn't the answer.”
But Burrell isn’t backing down from her controversial sermon.
In a Facebook video on Dec. 31, Burrell called the backlash “demonic.”
She said: “Stop it. You’re attacking a person who did not attack you … I never said gays are going to die in 2017.
“I said people who operate with that spirit in the church, with deception and attack themselves, are going to have to face the master … and that death is attached to their behaviour.”
In an earlier Facebook video, Burrell said she doesn’t have to “backtrack” and isn’t “running from anything.”
Insisting that she loves people, Burrell said: “To every person that is dealing with the homosexual spirit, that has it, I love you because God loves you. But God hates the sin.
“There are a lot of people that I am aware of that struggle or deal or have that spirit. Have I discriminated against them? Have I ever outright told them that I don’t love them?”
An online petition is calling for Ellen DeGeneres, who is gay, to cancel Burrell’s appearance on her show.
“Please stop Kim Burrell & teach her and others like her who hate, a powerful lesson in 2017 - that this type of speech & loathing must stop,” it reads. “It is killing LGBT people and has for decades.”