Christianity Today gets the scoop that lots of people knew was probably coming:
There were rumors that you left music because you were gay.
Knapp: That was a straw [in my decision], but there were many straws on the camel’s back at the time. I’m certainly in a same-sex relationship now, but when I suspended my work, that wasn’t even really a factor. I had some difficult decisions to make and what that meant for my life and deciding to invest in a same-sex relationship, but it would be completely unfair to say that’s why I left music.
Have you been with the same partner for a long time?
Knapp: About eight years, but I don’t want to get into that. For whatever reason the rumor mill [about me being gay] has persisted for so long, I wanted to acknowledge; I don’t want to come off as somebody who’s shirking the truth in my life. At the same time, I’m intensely private. Even if I were married to a man and had six children, it would be my personal choice to not get that kind of conversation rolling.
Knapp and her interviewer, Mark Moring, go into quite a bit of detail about the whole thing here.
Of course, it was entirely inappropriate to speculate before she decided to talk about it, but it made a lot of sense, especially after we heard those new songs.
Update: Reuters also has an interview here.
David Sessions
David Sessions is the founding editor of Patrol. He covers religion for Newsweek and The Daily Beast, and is a graduate student in the Draper Program for Humanities and Social Thought at New York University. He can be reached at hdavidsessions at gmail dot com.
0 Responses to Jennifer Knapp is Gay: We Kinda Figured
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I linked to this post on the Sun-Times Media’s What Do We Believe blog:
http://blogs.pioneerlocal.com/religion/2010/04/christian_singers_come_out_of.html
I hope you don’t mind the “know-it-alls” reference.
It is my hope that many more gays and lesbians in Christianity will stand up and speak out, God loves Gays as much he loves heterosexuals. Jennifer Knapps ends speculation and there is no doubt in my mind that she will be welcomed with inner peace and joy, knowing that she doesnt have to carry the burden of lying about who she loves and want to spent time with.
For the bible bashing people, know that God’s ineffable love surpasses any hatred.
We are often concerned with the way people comment on the issue of homosexuality. Many people are ignorant on the definition of homosexuality. This is a fact that we must appreciate, we are all children of God, a homosexual is a person who is sexually, emotionally, spiritually and physically attracted to people of his or her own sex.
You can be gay and still love God, let me quote a great man, teacher, Prophet Rev Dr Troy D Perry, the founder of the Metropolitan Community Church who said “The Lord is my Shepherd and He knows I am gay”.
Jennifer you will be in our prayers for the forseeable future, because I know that coming out with the burden of success in Christian Music can be a challenge.
At our churches in Lagos Nigeria and London UK, we would pray for you as you continue your journey of reconciliation with God and who you are.
More love more power. Revd Rowland Jide Macaulay
I’m not surprised either. I’ve heard these rumors for years and I’ll say what I’ve been saying all this time: I don’t care if she loves men, women, both, or whatever. She makes awesome music and I won’t stop listening now. Forget being an awesome lesbian musician, she’s just an awesome musician period.