After Donnie McClurkin didn't perform at an MLK concert where he was the headlining act last week, Washington, D.C.’s mayor said he made the decision to cut the gospel singer who espouses anti-gay sentiments.
Initial reports indicated that
McClurkin withdrew from the performance, according to The Washington Post, but an online SocialCam video from McClurkin indicated quite the opposite.
Urgent: Should Obamacare be Repealed? Vote Here Now
In that video, McClurkin said he was disgruntled and, “The mayor of D.C., I think his name’s Mayor Gray, uninvited me from a concert that I was supposed to headline today in the Washington Mall commemorating the 50th anniversary of the civil rights movement. I was asked not to attend, although I’m considered the headliner of the concert.”
The Washington Blade reported that a statement from Gray’s office said the mayor asked the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities to withdraw McClurkin’s invitation because his appearance would cause “a distraction at an event about peace, love and justice for all.”
The publication said the decision to withdraw McClurkin’s invitation to perform occurred just after a gay activist talked about McClurkin’s statements comparing gays to drug dealers, saying such opinions were "vile" and against what Martin Luther King stood for.
The Blade said local ministers are speaking out against Gray’s decision and also stated that they contacted the mayor’s office to insist McClurkin be allowed to perform but were ignored.
“Mayor Gray has systematically and deliberately done everything possible to strike at the fabric of the faith community — at least the sector of us who opposed his views,” Rev. Patrick J. Walker, president of the Baptist group, said in a release according to the Blade. “This, however, is an atrocity and cannot be tolerated.”
The Washington Post said city officials indicated McClurkin will be paid the $10,000 he is owed for the performance.
McClurkin called the decision to remove him from the concert a “disservice to the D.C. faith-based community,” adding that saying he withdrew in a mutual decision was an “insult” that “pales in comparison to the insult and the humiliation of being uninvited to such a significant affair,” the Post reported.
Latest: Do You Support Giving Illegals Citizenship? Vote Here Now
Related stories:
Polygamists See Gay Marriage Ruling Opening Door to Multiple Marriages
Gay Marriage Validated by Decisions Sparking Wave of Online Reaction
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.