Fifty years ago, Martin Luther King stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and gave his “I Have A Dream” speech and spoke of the day when people would be judged by the content of their character. I am not sure that the recent controversy over singer Donnie McClurkin is what MLK had in mind. McClurkin is a deeply religious man who says that God delivered him from being gay. That reportedly led to his being told that he was no longer welcomed at the anniversary performance of the speech.
McClurkin was scheduled to perform at the concert Saturday evening but gay rights activities objected to his participation ahead of the event.
Yet, Doxie McCoy, a spokeswoman for Mayor Vincent Gray, insisted that it was McClurkin who removed himself from the lineup to avoid controversy over his participation. She issued a statement that “[t]he Arts and Humanities Commission and Donnie McClurkin’s management decided that it would be best for him to withdraw because the purpose of the event is to bring people together.”
McClurkin however contradicted that account and said that he did not agree to be excluded. He states that he was “asked not to attend” the concert. That is quite a difference in accounts. Where the Mayor’s office is claiming that he removed himself, he is saying that he was barred because of his religious beliefs.
I can understand the feelings of gay rights advocates, particularly given the clear analogies of their own current struggle with the fight of Martin Luther King. However, the greater symbol of division can be found in barring people who share their admiration for MLK but subscribe to opposing religious views. I am equally concerned over what McClurkin is clearly suggesting is a false account from the office of Mayor Gray on the matter. The burden is now on Gray’s office to produce proof that the singer did opt not to attend to avoid controversy.
What do you think?
Source: Washington Post
@Elaine:
Once you get past normal sex, I am not sure there is a lot of practical difference. I read somewhere the other day that there is some OCD co-morbidity going on in gay males. I suspect a feed-back loop, like here:
http://mashable.com/2013/02/20/addicted-to-porn/
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Let me translate that for you, Darren.
Gaystapo
noun
[slang]
Pejorative used by bigots against people who think homosexuals should have equal rights and equal protection under the law.
What is the Gaystapo?
I was born an original sinner. I was born from original sin.
Squeeky,
Sexual orientation is different from a fetish, doncha know?
Oh goodness, people change their sexual orientation all the time. People aren’t BORN with a shoe fetish. Meanwhile, the Gaystapo is busily intimidating everybody about:
The Therapy Which Dare Not Speak Its Name!!!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporting
I had some problems understanding the boys in the ‘hood @ times in The Wire. I needed Barbara Billingsley to translate for me.
Blouise and Gene, Thanks for the tips. The Calamity Jane character got on my nerves @ first but she’s grown on me. I like a woman who swears comfortably. When we were in Deadwood we went to the cemetery and Jane is buried right next to Bill.
Some scientists, David? Now who would they be?
“Some say…” has been around since the invention of language.
David, you seem to be up to date on all this stuff. I actually have a list of the committee members who voted. Would you mind sharing which one(s) has expressed such a concern, and where I could read that claim for myself?
For those who are less knowledgeable than David on this, I recommend an excellent book on the subject:
Scientific Controversies: Case Studies in the Resolution and Closure of Disputes in Science and Technology, edited by Engelhardt & Caplan. It was published by Cambridge University Press (1987). You can pick up a copy for only $309.91 in hardback, but there is a trade paperback available at $64.98.
OS wrote: “Some scientists, David? Now who would they be?”
Charles Socarides and Vamik Volkan.
Am J Psychiatry 1981;138:1256-a-1257
Also read Socarides book, “Homosexuality: A Freedom Too Far”
As one of the dog corps would say, x-gay attin lay.
Thanks, Blousie. 😀
Gene,
They are all good … start with The Judas Pair which was the first published in the late 70’s
You are in for a treat
Blouise,
I had no idea “Lovejoy” was based on books. I’ll have to make an effort to read one. Any title suggestions?
Juliet,
I don’t know if you were here for this, but one of David’s earlier clashes here over the sciences including him arguing that not only was God real but that he could prove it so by using a mythical creature he called “subjective proof”. That he thinks religion should influence science is not surprising, but if you look at his arguments (such as they are) about treating homosexuals as second class citizens and denying them equal rights and equal protection I think it’s pretty clear that he does indeed think religion should influence politics since he dogmatically insists on using a religious definition of marriage instead of the legal contractual definition of marriage.
(Prairie rose, I was abused by a close relative. I have never had a romantic relationship. And boy sometimes I wish homosexuality was a choice because then maybe I could but I am hetero thru and thru, because it is my biology. I think people like me are good anecdotal “evidence” that homosexuality is rarely a choice; because I think there are a lot more like me who wish they could change their sexuality.)
Given Elaine’s article I no longer think this is an issue of free speech. Regardless of who is telling the truth, the mayor or McClurkin, hate does not belong at an event, esp one marking MLK’s legacy.
Gene and nick,
Aahh, Lovejoy … one of my favorites. I had read most of the books before the TV series (Jonathan Gash, author). I also enjoyed Deadwood and didn’t have trouble with the anachronistic language.
After having read the Washington Post article, I don’t think he is “living a lie”, nor is he pretending to be ex-gay.
“In 2002, McClurkin wrote on a Christian Web site that he struggled with homosexuality after he was molested by male relatives when he was 8 and 13.”
For most people homosexuality is in-born. It seems, for him, it was probably a psychological coping strategy stemming from repeated same-s*x molestation. For it was a curse because of what he was dealing with. What could being raped or molested by a same-s*x relative or close family friend do to the mind of a vulnerable child?
The people I know who were heterosexually molested as children had issues with their s*xuality–ranging from suppressing their s*xuality to becoming very promiscuous. Could same-s*x molestation induce unhappy homosexuality in a born-heterosexual child? (The inverse is also possible–if a born-homosexual child is heterosexually molested, could that child become unhappily heterosexual?)
If accurate, it’s not in any way an indictment of homosexuals; it’s an indictment of pedophiles that their actions can so thoroughly affect the mind and body of a child.
Also, I think it’s unfortunate McClurkin generalized his statement as “homosexuality is a curse”. I apparently was for him, but he shouldn’t speak so brashly. That sort of statement only causes divides, defensiveness, and deafness to anything else positive he might have to say.
‘Ex-Gay’ Donnie McClurkin At Boston’s Gospelfest
Irene Monroe
(Native of Brooklyn, graduate of Wellesley College and Union Theological Seminary at Columbia)
Posted: July 15, 2010
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/irene-monroe/ex-gay-donnie-mcclurkin-a_b_647188.html
Excerpt:
Every year Mayor Tom Menino’s Office of Arts, Tourism and Special Events puts on its annual Boston GospelFest at City Hall Plaza.
And because the Gospelfest is a public and taxpayer-funded community event, it’s open to all — even the African American lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities.
But with Pastor Donnie McClurkin, the poster boy for African American “ex-gay” ministries, who spews anti-gay, religion-based vitriol, billed as the main event, many in the African American LGBTQ communities will not be in attendance at this year’s event. And neither will the mayor…
“God did not call you to such perversions. Your only hope is Jesus Christ. Were it not for this Jesus I would be a homosexual today. This God is a deliverer,” is just an example of the continuous flow of McClurkin’s homophobic remarks stated at the Church of God in Christ’s (COGIC) 102nd Holy Convocation International Youth Department Worship Service in November 2009.
Ms. Julie Burns, the Director of Arts, Tourism and Special Events for the Mayor’s Office, came late to knowing about McClurkin’s anti-gay rhetoric.
When Burns called me on June 24 about the McClurkin kerfuffle with Gospelfest just weeks away, she was apologetic.
“I learned yesterday — through the Phoenix article regarding the City of Boston Gospel Fest — of the depth and breath of Donnie McClurkin’s views on the Gay community,” Burns wrote in an e-mail to me. “I am embarrassed to say that I was not aware of this and we obviously should have vetted him further. Gospel Fest is in its 10th year and is arguably the largest Gospel event in New England. Minister McClurkin was recommended to us by a number of people and we were swayed by his artistic honors. Of course, this does not excuse the situation that we now find ourselves in! Please rest assured that Mayor Menino did not know anything about this and would never condone ‘hate speech’ of any kind.”
Moderator, can you free my last post from WordPress filters?
Juliet’s first comment was my immediate reaction. Is it because he is the Mayor that his account is deemed the one that needs to be proved.
DavidM There are also ex straights. What’s your point, that conversion therapy works if you’re homosexual (or other therapies such as aversion therapy)?
Being gay in an anti homosexual atmosphere causes people to “stay in the closet”. People such as yourself continue to perpetrate the myth that homosexuality is not a born trait but a choice. Men and women had, and some still have, a legitimate fear of being actively gay. That means pretending to be straight or denying your inate sexuality, sometimes by deciding you can change it.
Maybe not a 1 -1 analogy but an alcoholic is always an alcoholic – even when he has been sober for many years. Someone who is gay is gay even if they decide to fight and deny their biology.
At the end of the debate, the bottom line is still the same. If he was told not to participate it is against MLK’s ideal and ideas.
People who say being gay is a choice are probably making a choice to live as a straight person. Living a lie, however, doesn’t make one not gay.