Folk singer Michelle Shocked, a one time icon of the gay community, is apologizing for an offensive anti-gay rant that may have destroyed her career as a performing artist.
In an attempt at damage control, Shocked, a “born-again Christian,” released a letter of apology on Wednesday, March 20. In her letter of apology, Shocked claims the anti-gay rant that stunned a San Francisco audience was misunderstood, and that she was not speaking for herself, but that she was speaking for “those who are anti-gay rights."
Media reports indicate the singer was performing at a jazz club called Yoshi’s when she went into “a vicious anti-gay tirade” against same-sex marriage, saying: “I live in fear that the world will be destroyed if gays are allowed to marry."
Shocked then said to the crowd: 'You can go on Twitter and say, ‘Michelle Shocked says God hates fags,’” co-opting the rhetoric of the Westboro Baptist Church, a notorious anti-gay hate group. She also claimed that pastors would be “forced at gunpoint to marry gays and that would trigger the return of Jesus.
Shocked’s letter of apology comes after all of her U.S. appearances had been cancelled. Gay Star News reports that four venues in California, two in Colorado, and one each in Oregon, Washington, and Illinois all canceled upcoming shows after outrage over Shocked’s anti-gay rant spread across social media platforms.
The following is an excerpt taken from Shocked’s controversial rant:
I was at a prayer meeting yesterday, and you have to appreciate how scared, how scared people on that side of the equation are. I mean, from their vantage point, and I really shouldn't say their, because it's mine too, we are nearly at the end of time ...
And from our vantage point, we’re gonna be, uhhh, I think maybe Chinese water torture is gonna be the means, the method — once Prop 8 gets, uh, instated, and once, um, preachers are held at gunpoint and forced to marry the homosexuals, I’m pretty sure that that will be the signal for Jesus to come on back...You said you wanted reality....If someone would be so gracious as to please tweet out, ‘Michelle Shocked just said from stage, God hates faggots.’ Would you do it now?
You can listen to Shocked’s controversial rant here.
What do you think? Did Michelle Shocked commit career suicide with her anti-gay rant? Leave a comment - express yourself.
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