'Hidden Figures' Stars Criticize Kim Burrell For Calling Gays 'Perverts'
- By
- On Top Magazine Staff
- | January 02, 2017
Several stars of the film Hidden Figures are speaking out against gospel singer Kim Burrell, who last week was caught on tape calling gay people “perverted.”
The video, uploaded Friday, shows Burrell speaking before her congregation.
“I came to tell you about sin,” Burrell screams. “That sin nature, that perverted homosexual spirit, and the spirit of delusion and confusion, it has deceived many men and women. You as a man, you open your mouth and take a man’s penis in your face, you are perverted. You are a woman and will shake your face in another woman’s breast, you are perverted.”
She said that “anyone filled with the homosexual spirit” should “beg God” to be free.
Burrell, who appears on the Hidden Figures soundtrack, is scheduled to perform Thursday on The Ellen DeGeneres Show with Pharrell Williams. DeGeneres married her wife in 2008 and is a vocal supporter of LGBT rights.
Without naming Burrell, Williams condemned “hate speech” in an Instagram post.
“I condemn hate speech of any kind,” he wrote in black text on a yellow background. “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.”
Janelle Monáe, one of the stars of the film, shared Williams' post, adding: “I shouldn't even have to post this as you guys should already know where I stand but If you do not pls know I unequivocally repudiate ANY AND ALL hateful comments against the LGBTQ 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. If the religion don't make you [a] more loving or better person, ditch it.”
Octavia Spencer, who plays mathematician Dorothy Vaughan in the film, also shared Williams' statement.
“I agree,” she wrote. “We are all God's children equal in his eyes. Hatred isn't the answer. Intolerance isn't the answer.”