Gospel artist Donnie McClurkin did not perform Saturday at a Washington, D.C., government-sponsored concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. The Washington Post reports that gay-rights activists didn’t want McClurkin to perform because of his views on homosexuality. He has said that he dealt with homosexuality, but God brought him out from that "curse."
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The activists took their concerns to Mayor Vincent Gray, and according to the mayor's office, Gray asked McClurkin not to perform. McClurkin says he was simply uninvited from the event.
“The 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,” said Doxie McCoy, a spokeswoman for Gray. “Mayor Gray said the purpose of the event is to promote peace and harmony. That is what King was all about.”
McClurkin disputed that account, saying he was “asked not to attend” the concert. In a lengthy video statement posted online Saturday, McClurkin said Gray “uninvited me from a concert that I was supposed to headline.”
“There should be freedom of speech as long as it’s done in love,” McClurkin said in the video, adding that he believes it is unfortunate that in today’s world, “a black man, a black artist is uninvited from a civil rights movement depicting the love, the unity, the peace, the tolerance.”
Read more at the Washington Post.
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