--- title: Kim Burrell Addresses Backlash After Her Homophobic Comments description: Gospel singer Kim Burrell responded to negative reactions to a sermon that she gave where she referred to gay people as "perverted." canonical: https://time.com/4620832/kim-burrell-homophobic-comments/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-03T18:40:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:39:51.130Z og:title: Kim Burrell Addresses Backlash After Homophobic Comments og:description: "I make no excuses or apologies. My love is as pure as it comes." og:url: https://time.com/4620832/kim-burrell-homophobic-comments/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte69685001617fcb1/6988b4465f570f70ddb23a8b/kim-burrell-homophobic-comment.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon - Season 4 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Kim Burrell Addresses Backlash After Homophobic Comments twitter:description: "I make no excuses or apologies. My love is as pure as it comes." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte69685001617fcb1/6988b4465f570f70ddb23a8b/kim-burrell-homophobic-comment.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Gospel Singer Kim Burrell Addresses Backlash After Homophobic Remarks  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jan 3, 2017 6:40 PM UTC  Musical guest Kim Burrell performs on Dec. 8, 2016 on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Musical guest Kim Burrell performs on Dec. 8, 2016 on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.Andrew Lipovsky—NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jan 3, 2017 6:40 PM UTC Gospel singer Kim Burrell has responded to negative reactions to a sermon that she gave at a church in Houston, Texas where she used the word “perverted” in reference to gay people, according to the [_New York Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/03/movies/pharrell-williams-making-noise-for-hidden-figures-everywhere.html?%5Fr=0). During the sermon, which [was taped at the Love & Liberty Fellowship Church](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT5gpBaFpaw), Burrell refers to the “perverted homosexual spirit,” which drew backlash online, ahead of Burrell’s slated performance of a song from [the film _Hidden Figures_](http://time.com/4605629/hidden-figures-movie-review/) alongside Pharrell on _The Ellen DeGeneres Show_ on Thursday. In a [pair of videos posted to Facebook Live last Friday](http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-38495094), Burrell did not take back her words, but said that her words had been misrepresented by her “enemies” who had posted only a part of her original sermon. “To every person that is dealing with the homosexual spirit, that has it, I love you because God loves you,” she said. “But God hates the sin in you and me, anything that is against the nature of God.” She later elaborated on her comments, saying that she “never said all gays were going to hell.” “I never said ‘LGBT’,” she said. “I said ‘SIN’.” Following the backlash online, Pharrell posted a tweet condemning “hate speech of any kind.” > [](https://twitter.com/Pharrell/status/815268588340867073) Singer and actor Janelle Monae who stars in the film reposted Pharell’s tweet on Instagram, along with a caption of her own, repudiating “hateful comments against the LGBTQ community.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4620832/kim-burrell-homophobic-comments/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4620832/kim-burrell-homophobic-comments/"},"headline":"Gospel Singer Kim Burrell Addresses Backlash After Homophobic Remarks","datePublished":"2017-01-03T18:40:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:39:51.130Z","description":"\"I make no excuses or apologies. My love is as pure as it comes.\"","url":"https://time.com/4620832/kim-burrell-homophobic-comments/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Entertainment","Music","LGBT","Pharrell","celebrity"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte69685001617fcb1/6988b4465f570f70ddb23a8b/kim-burrell-homophobic-comment.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte69685001617fcb1/6988b4465f570f70ddb23a8b/kim-burrell-homophobic-comment.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon - Season 4","caption":"The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon - Season 4","creditText":"Andrew Lipovsky—NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4620832/kim-burrell-homophobic-comments/","name":"Gospel Singer Kim Burrell Addresses Backlash After Homophobic Remarks"}}]}] ```