This [homophobic] posture is nothing new from the gospel music world. I'd simply gotten very used to separating the message from the messenger. The morning of December 30, 2016, was the day all of that ended for me. No more separating. I had stood by and stayed silent on this issue for years, hoping that the church would evolve. But I saw that evolution is not what religious folk were in search of, so it was time to disengage from those who sought to destroy me. Kim Burrell's lashings felt personal this time. And disingenuous. Because, as many folk brought to light in the subsequent overall cancelling of Ms. Burrell that came very swiftly and was very exacting, she was fine with the faggots when it served her bank account -- note her duet with the out musician Frank Ocean. And while the cancel/consequence culture let that bitch fully have it -- she lost her radio show; Ellen canceled an appearance that was to happen the following week, where she was supposed to sing a duet with Pharrell [Williams] in support of the film Hidden Figures -- her betrayal gutted my soul, because it was us, her mainly Black, LGBTQ+ fan base, who supported her. We didn't care that she had an obesity issue, which incidentally is directly connected to one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Gluttony! And yet, we loved her and supported her unconditionally. Fuck that! Many celebrities released statements condemning Ms. Burrell's hate speech. Pharrell wrote, "I condemn hate speech of any kind. 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." Good luck wit dat!
-- Billy Porter, Unprotected, p. 246-247
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