Sorry people -- had to take off the comments. There was just too much arguing. Before you flood my email with rage -- please remember, I did not call Hudson a homophobe, I didn't say the comments even bothered me and I didn't say Hudson isn't allowed to feel the way she feels. I love when an artist is honest! The SHUT UP AND SING reference is from a Dixie Chicks movie called, SHUT UP AND SING. I guess very few people caught the irony. Also, I do agree with many people who have been saying for the past month or so -- if you think what I say is so disturbing, or mean, then why come back? I have made comments about Madonna (of course no one cares when I blog about white folks), Janet Jackson, Fiona Apple, Prince, Oprah (and more) -- all people I am huge fans of. I've even been told of celebrities who have read my blog with a comment about them and they thought it was funny. If they are getting a cackle out of it, what is the big deal? It's not like I have EVER blogged about people in the black LGBT community (even when bloggers are arguing back and forth). I have always been supportive of all of us who are truly on the grind. Please don't take this SO seriously. Like the kids say, "It is just a ball!" Well, "It is just a blog!”

I am a little surprised that outside of white gay media, no one has mentioned Hudson's rant, or should I say slip, on being a devout Christian and her sinful gay fan base. Probably because even if she is (not saying she is) a docile homophobe, most of us wouldn't care and just blindly support her like we have done with artists in the past. One of my dear friends, who is a staunch gay man, told me, "I am so mesmerized by her that at this point, I don't think I care." This is a guy who thinks Hudson sang "And I Am Telling You" better than Holliday! Now I know many gays are SENISTIVE to Jennifer Hudson and I know Hudson is not a government official, but she still made some interesting comments on the gays.

Here is a small excerpt from the article:
On Dec. 30 in New York City, Hudson is the featured entertainer at “One Night Only,” arguably Manhattan’s gayest event during New Year’s Eve weekend. Tickets start at $65, and the singer-actress shares a bill with superstar DJ Junior Vasquez. As a Baptist who’s singing at circuit party, has Hudson reconciled her spiritual beliefs and her gay fan base? Does she support same sex marriage?

“Nobody has ever asked me these questions,” she says. “Everybody sins,” Hudson continues. “No sin is greater or different than the other. To each his own. If it don’t bother Jennifer, then Jennifer don’t mind. I don’t really even think about it because I don’t believe in judging people for what they do.”

When referencing themselves, lots of divas probably do that schizophrenic thing where they toggle between first and third person. But did Hudson just say that being gay is a sin?
“According to the way we’re taught, and what it says in the Bible — it is,” Hudson says. If her answers didn’t already sound like fundamentalist clichés, Hudson then added, “I have plenty of gay friends.”

Her answers were surprising. I had a hunch that Hudson was religious. But when it came to questions about the gay community, I hoped she might emerge with a thoughtful response. Because she’s a relatively new star, some may say it’s unfair that Hudson should be asked to comment on social issues. But another reporter at the roundtable pointed out that Hudson is a zaftig, dark-skinned woman. He asked Hudson if she feels a responsibility to represent young African-American women in a positive light.“I do think it’s important to be a good role model,” she says. “It just occurred to me a few days ago that I might be a role model. I’m sure that’s a part that comes with the territory. And I want to make sure I represent them well. And give all females — no matter what age, what race — something to look up to.”

But come on,” I tell Hudson. “This movie is about as gay as it gets.”

“Wow,” she says while laughing.

Here’s a link to the full story: http://dallasvoice.com/artman/exec/view.cgi/50/4105

Oh Lawd, Miss Jenny... why didn't she send a quick text message to Donna Summer (anyone remember that debacle in the late '80's?) before tackling that question? Just when I was getting ready to like the chocolate-thunder-quarter-pounder chick she had to pull the implicit homophobe role! Once again, I'm sure many black gays don't give a damn, or will just chalk it up to her being young, or to "That's what my family thinks!" However, Hudson is a twenty-five year old woman who had the comeback of the year due to a gay director and a film that could be called "Dreamgays." I have never seen a black movie marketed to the gay community like this and the only magazine cover Hudson received was The Advocate, the most popular gay magazine on the planet.

Well, the backlash was immediate and two days after the December 6th story Hudson released a statement saying she was "misrepresented." Misrepresented? I would've felt better if she would've owned up to what she said she said rather than blaming it on the reporter. Here is her response:
In a recent interview, I was asked how I reconciled being a Christian with performing at events for my gay fans. I find it upsetting that some folks equate being a Christian with being intolerant of gay people. That may, unfortunately, be true for some, but it is not true for me.
I have talked often of my love and support of the gay community. I have said again and again that it was the gay community that supported me long before and long after “American Idol” and kept me working and motivated. It is the gay community that celebrated my voice and my size and my personality long before “Dreamgirls.”

Yes I was raised Baptist. Yes, I was taught that the bible has certain views on homosexuality, The Bible also teaches us not to judge. It teaches us to love one as God loves us all. I love my sister, my two best friends and my director dearly. They happen to be gay. So what? While some search for controversy, I hope that my friends and fans who know me, know where I stand.

Thank you for allowing me to respond, and I wish Dallas Voice a happy holiday season.
Jennifer Hudson.

This was a sweet response -- BUT the Bible teaches us not to judge? Don't ya' just hate when "godly" folks spit that line out? It insinuates there is SOMETHING you should be judged for, BUT I am not going to judge your heathen ass. Hudson is basically saying, "I stand by the Bible like a good Christian woman, but I love you gays! “

Rumor has it Bill Condon gave J-Hud a little ring and asked what in gay heaven is wrong with her! Therefore, she quickly responded with the statement above. I am sure Hudson, and many of the straights (and Lawd knows a few gays) do not see anything wrong with the comment, which is why many sit idly by at the black church while they are explicitly, and sometimes implicitly, damned to hell. I am happy to know that Hudson realizes who supported her from the beginning. I can't really say how much the comments bother me, or not, because I am not a huge fan -- I will not be a huge fan until I hear her sing "And I Am Telling You" live! Nonetheless, she does not say, "I don't believe being gay is a sin", or, "I do believe in gay marriage", which is what the reporter asked. Not saying she had to say this, but that was what the reporter asked. "Tolerance" is not stating all the gay friends you have, or your gay director, but truly understanding that not believing in your friend’s equal rights, or your SISTER’s, and boxing LOVE into sin is problematic to many people – didn’t say to me, but to others it is.

I guess Hudson failed to remember her boyfriend that she has been dating for seven years and unmarried. Does she consider her relationship and love to be a sin? Sadly, there are many people who have gay friends, but have their "belief" and just expect you to accept it because they still love you and they are not judging. I've had this experience with whites who had archaic beliefs on blacks and I was just supposed to deal with it because that is how they were raised. I am not stating that I think everyone should LOVE the gays -- say how you feel and stick to it If J-Hud loves the gays so much and even said, “The gay community is the hardest community to please," then she might want to adjust her pop star politics. It looks like Jennifer Hudson truly stumbled over her words. (sigh) Just when you think it’s safe to trust a buxom, black, big girl – I thought Star Jones was enough! Oh well, I still think she can sing!

For my interview with Jennifer Hudson click here http://claycane.blogspot.com/2007/01/jennifer-hudson-interview-on.html