Transgender fashion designer converted by Kim Burrell stands up for star
A former transgender fashion designer who credits gospel singer Kim Burrell with turning his life around has hit out at claims she is 'homophobic' after she was kicked off the Ellen show.
The 44-year-old was captured on camera giving a sermon at her Love and Liberty Fellowship Church in Houston where she talked about the 'sin inside gay people' and called homosexuality 'perverted'.
After the the footage surfaced online, it provoked outrage and Ellen DeGeneres banned Burrell from appearing on her show to promote her new gospel music.
Gospel singer Kim Burrell, who provoke outrage when she she talked about the 'sin inside gay people' and called homosexuality 'perverted' during a church sermon
She was also criticised by hitmaker Pharrell Williams, who had previously collaborated on a track with the singer.
But now fashion designer O'Rhonde Chapman has come forward to defend Burrell, saying she welcomed him with open arms when he fell on hard times.
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ShareChapman, who was formerly transgender and was openly gay, suffered from homelessness and identity issues, and he sought solace and the Love and Liberty Fellowship Church.
There he says Burrell took him under her wings and told him to chase his dream of designing his own fashion line.
And now he has dismissed claims of her 'gay bashing', saying she 'loves all people'.
Fashion designer O'Rhonde Chapman,pictured left, when he used to be transgender and right today, has come forward to defend Burrell, saying she welcomed him with open arms when he fell on hard times
Chapman told KHOU: 'She supported me, embraced me, encouraged me and inspired me to be all that I have become today.
'I was openly gay at the time. So (Burrell) embraced me. She didn’t shun me. She didn’t have hatred towards me. She treated me in a way that I was supposed to be treated.
'Even hearing that snippet, I still know that her heart for people to do right and her heart after making sure that God’s mission was completed was every bit of pure no matter how it’s being received.'
Burrell, a wife and mother, and a pastor was filmed giving the homophobic sermon at her church last week.
Controversy: Gospel singer Kim Burrell is videotaped giving a sermon at her church in Houston in which she describes homosexual acts as 'perverted', prompting a social media backlash
'I came to tell you about sin. That sin nature. That perverted homosexual spirit, and the spirit of delusion and confusion, it has deceived many men and women, and it's caused us pain on the body of Christ,' she said, according to BET.com .
'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 added.
But Ellen, who is gay and a big supporter of the LGBT community, later tweeted that her appearance on her show had been cancelled.
'For those asking, Kim Burrell will not be appearing on my show,' she wrote.
'For those asking, Kim Burrell will not be appearing on my show,' Ellen wrote on Twitter
A response: Pharrell, an outspoken advocate of gay rights, took to Twitter to post a statement condemning 'hate speech of any kind'
Pharrell and Burrell collaborated on the song I See A Victory for the movie based on a true story of black female mathematicians who worked unsung at NASA in the early days of the space program.
On Saturday, Pharrell appeared to respond via Twitter to the video from the gospel singer.
'I condemn hate speech of any kind,' the Happy hitmaker tweeted. 'There is no room in the world for any kind of prejudice. My greatest hope is for inclusion and love for all humanity in 2017 and beyond.'
This prompted Burrell to take to social media to defend her sermon, saying she will 'make no excuses or apologies'.
Explanation: On Friday evening, Burrell had appeared on Facebook Live to clarify her remarks and insist that she doesn't hate homosexuals, just the sin
The singer also insisted she never said the phrase 'LGBT' in the sermon, 'I said S-I-N', she added.
'I know that people are going to be mad. To every person that is dealing with the homosexual spirit, that has it, I love you because God loves you. But God hates the sin in you and me, anything that is against the nature of God.'
She added that she had never said ' all gays were going to hell'.
Burrell, who is married to Joseph Wiley, claims an 'enemy' was responsible for framing her speech in a negative light.
'I said people who operate with that spirit in the church with deception and attack themselves are going to have to face the master,' she explained.
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