More anti-gay hate speech courtesy of Mandisa

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 8:52pm

"
Is ousted "American Idol" contestant Mandisa anti-gay? The 29-year-old soul singer and outspoken Christian, who was voted off the hit Fox show Wednesday, says she would not perform at an event held in support of the gay community.

Mandisa, a native of Antioch, Tenn., tells Advocate magazine, "Based on what I believe, I'm not an advocate for (being gay), so it's nothing I would take part in."

Still, she says in an interview in the magazine's Web site, she's "really upset" by speculation she endorses the ex-gay movement a collection of Christian groups that seek to alter sexual orientation. The speculation stemmed from comments she made on the "American Idol" Web site praising author and speaker Beth Moore, of Living Proof Ministries. Moore's Web site has links to groups such as Exodus International that discourage homosexuality.
"


http://tv.yahoo.com/news/ap/20060407/114447174000.html

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 8:56pm

i like how at the end of the article we're sorta supposed to feel sorry for her.

[cheezedoodle]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 9:02pm

"says she would not perform at an event held in support of the gay community"

Like the queer community really needs the help of MOO-disa. Drop some weight - and the attitude honey. You can't out queen an old queen! lol.

[aspiringactress]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 9:04pm

" You can't out queen an old queen! lol."

I am astraight 14 year old girl, and that line still made my life worth living.

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 9:05pm

and another thought...

why the hell should I care?

[Kringas]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 9:09pm

I always had a bad feeling about her, even though I think she has one hell of a voice. When she sat down and read Simon about how his comments about her weight upset her, but she asked Jesus to help her forgive him or some such, I just thought she came off as haughty and self-righteous. Granted, what he said was rude, but it's not like she's just carrying around a few extra pounds. She's a gigantic-sized woman, particularly from the waist down. For her to be so shocked that that might become an issue (particularly when in regard to a career in entertainment) was deluded at best. And that's only if you really want to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Updated On: 4/10/06 at 09:09 PM

[Calvin]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 9:22pm

Considering Ruben has had to cancel several concerts because of health problems (that I imagine must be stemming in part from his weight), it most certainly would be an issue.

But, oh BOY! She's going to be on Fox's morning show tomorrow. My VCR is set.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 9:37pm

So, um, if she won't perform for gay people ...... exactly who the hell is she gonna perform for? Who does she think the audience for 300 pound black gospel-belting divas usually consists of? Straight white men?

I can completely respect her (and everyone's) basic religous convictions -- though there's never any excuse for hate of any kind from anyone. It's stunning to me that no one took this woman aside and told her that she can believe anything she wants to -- that gay people are evil, that Jews are devil worshippers, that skinny bitches are mean -- but you just don't SAY your ignorant ass personal beliefs publicly. I don't doubt that many popular celebrities harbor all manner of hateful beliefs -- but most of them have the sense to keep them to themselves.

You can be a strong Christian and not be a bigot. Aretha Franklin and Patti Labelle (just to name two) are intensely religious people who I'm sure have heard a preacher or two castigate gay people over the years and who knows what they personally believe in their heart of hearts. BUT, they both have repeatedly through the years made a point of publicly embracing their gay fans and have performed at AIDS benefits all over the country.

Somebody needed to grab Miss Mandisa and told her to keep her damn mouth shut over these issues. She's destroyed her career before it's even begun and she'd better decide to devote her career to just gospel music because her r&b/pop career is dead in the water.

Updated On: 4/10/06 at 09:37 PM

[Kringas]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 9:44pm

I enjoyed Television Without Pity's take on her:

"All I know," says Paula, "is that there's a new religion, and forty million people have now joined the Church of Mandisa." Mandisa's sour milk look at that bit of fawning praise is the best single moment in this episode. Everyone involved is implicated exactly as they deserve to be: Paula, for being hyperbolic and yet clueless as to what Mandisa is actually all about, and Mandisa for being utterly humorless after a self-aggrandizing performance that was practically begging for that kind of Paula moment. I also love how literally Mandisa is taking it. Like Paula actually blasphemed. All that effort at saving Paula's soul and she actually made it worse! Heretic.

Television Without Pity.

Updated On: 4/10/06 at 09:44 PM

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 9:49pm

This benefit for the "gay community" wasn't necessarily one for AIDS...there is nothing stating that, and who are we to say she wouldn't take part in a benefit for AIDS? It's not just a disease that hits the gay community. We don't know what exactly the benefit was, so why are we jumping to conclusions. Perhaps it was something more political, and she just didn't believe in it.

I think this whole thing is getting very twisted. In this article it states that she was upset by speculation that she supports Christian groups that seek to alter sexual orientation.

[Broadway_freak]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 10:02pm

She has an amazing voice and I was one of her fans in the beginning but I was thrown off by the "lifestyle" comment. I want Christians to have a better reputation and she is representing something that not every Christian believes. I think she is amazingly talented but she came off a but too strong.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 10:06pm

"Lifestyle" doesn't necessarily mean homosexuality. As she said in this article, she is not a supporter of Christian groups seeking to alter sexual orientation. It's amazing how everyone is jumping to conclusions that she is gay-hating and offensive without having anything to really back it up. It's a bit unsettling.
Updated On: 4/10/06 at 10:06 PM

[Kringas]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 10:18pm

Well, as others have pointed out, "lifestyle" is a loaded word.

ETA: And it usually means homosexuality.

Updated On: 4/10/06 at 10:18 PM

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 10:23pm

Obviously you skipped over the part about how she DOESN'T support the trying to alter one's sexuality or the groups who do.

Lifestyle doesn't "usually" mean homosexuality. Hell, even if it does, that's besides the point because you're still jumping to a conlusion without having much of a reason to do so.
Updated On: 4/10/06 at 10:23 PM

[BroadwayChica]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 10:25pm

I'm sorry, but she said she wouldn't perform for an event in favor of the gay community. How is that different from refusing to play for events for the Latino community? For black people? She didn't say she was against performing at political rallies for some specific "gay rights" cause- but that she wouldn't perform in any event which supports the gay community.

It's bigoted, plain and simple. Anyone who believes homosexuality is some kind of sin, or morally wrong, is bigoted. To say so publicly, as someone who is more or less in the public eye, is a horrible career choice. So, no, I don't think we're jumping to conclusions.

So **** her and her self righteousness.

[NCGuy]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 10:30pm

It's amazing how everyone is jumping to conclusions that she is gay-hating and offensive without having anything to really back it up.

How much clearer does it have to be?

“Based on what I believe, I'm not an advocate for [being gay], so it's nothing I would take part in.”

In response to the question “Is there a conflict between being religious and being gay?”…

“I know my value system, based on that, that on the word [of the Bible], that it does speak of that.”

She then trots out that tired old “love the sinner/hate the sin” bullsh*t that homophobes always use to temper their homophobia...

“I do know I have no place to judge anybody. I know that at the end of time we all face the judge and his name is not going to be Mandisa, so I cannot place any judgment on anyone.”

Advocate Interview

[Kringas]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 10:35pm

I still maintain that when the word "lifestyle" is used (esepcially by the righteous) it generally refers to homosexuality.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 11:08pm

It's also used by heterosexual swingers as shorthand for the swinging scene. They call it "The Lifestyle."

[Kringas]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 11:48pm

I wonder what Mandisa's stance is on that sector of The Lifestyle.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 4/11/06 at 12:53am

It's also the name of a condom.

[DG]

Posted: 4/11/06 at 12:57am

Margo - no matter WHAT brilliant theatrical musings you have exhibited here - or whatever social commentary you have shared - NOTHING you have written do I agree with more.

Bravo.