Deitrick Speaks Out: "Not a Sissy Bone In My Body"

On his Twitter page, gospel artist Deitrick Haddon decided to chime in on the popular online debate surrounding homosexuality in the church. Apparently it created major attention when EJ Gaines posted a thread on his site, GospelPundit.com. Now with over 50 comments at Gaines' site and other blogs jumping into the heated conversation, Gaines extracted from the Twitter content some of the homophobic language from Haddon's statements.

"All Gospel singers are not gay as I don't have a sissy bone in my body."

Apparently outraged from Tonex's recent conversation with gospel artist Lexi on her Word Network cable show The Lexi Show, Haddon also commented, "Listen people. God loves everybody but he hates sin! God destroyed Sodom & Gomorah because the city was gay! You think he wants it in his church?" He did repeat on several Twitter posts that he was not a gay basher or homophobic, but his usage of the word" sissy," a derogatory term for "homosexual" upset a number of bloggers and readers.

"God is not pleased with the anger we exhibit, and the venom we spew," Gaines stated in his editorial. "Just because we say “I’m doing it for YOU, Lord.” We condemn other religions for committing hateful acts in the name of God, we have seen (as a nation) racial oppression premised on people’s errant interpretation of Scripture. And we’ve not liked it....let's do better."

In response to Haddon's comments, Tonex' spoke to popular urban gay blog Loldarian .com and said that he was a "little bit disappointed with the response. I think the term "sissy" wasn't necessary but as a brother of mine, no love is lost here."

Not all stand in EJ's corner. A number of Haddon supporters and anti-gay protesters are also becoming more and more vocal with their stance on homosexuality and Tonex's decisions to speak out about his sexuality. BIGG C left these words, "Come on people, please. Why are we so soft on sin, God aint., yes he’s a forgiving God, but he ain’t soft on the sinning. Homosexuality is sin, fornication is a sin, lying is a sin. It aint being hateful if we call someone out who is wrong, if we base it according to the word of God. DH shouldn’t have to apologize for nothin’. He’s not hatin” or being hypocritical."

Daservant posted, "Ohhh I get it now…SISSY…has been elevated to the big ‘N’ word. Never knew…thought it was just like any other word used…not of the caliber as N*GGER OR F*GGOT OR CR*CKER!, man SISSY is not that serious!!"

Amazingly, the controversial content was removed Wednesday from Haddon's Twitter page and shows no sign of the conversation ever taking place. No word if it was removed due to possible orders from his music label, Verity Records, or its parent company, Zomba.

Haddon, married to gospel singer Damita Haddon, topped the gospel charts in 2006 with Crossroads. In 2008, he released his most recent project Revealed, which featured the R&B crossover hit "Love Him Like I Do," featuring guest appearances from Mary Mary and American Idol winner Ruben Studdard.

In conclusion, maybe Haddon needs to learn a valuable lesson from Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), tennis champion Serena Williams and hip-hop icon Kanye West about civility. There's a time and a place to say things. Artists needs to get back to what they do best...stop preaching and promoting their ideologies and get back to making good music. Do we buy their music because of how good they preach or how great their music is? Right now, we can't tell.

Read the other comments from Haddon's Twitter posts below.

[LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE BOY]

Deitirck Haddon Sparks Debate on Homosexuality (Gospel Pundit)
Gospel Music: "There's Not a Sissy Bone in My Body" (Loldarian.com)
YPJ Calls for Order (PRAYZE Report)

Tonex' Opens Up About His Sexuality (PRAYZE Report)