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Somewhere along the way, the Christian music industry forgot that the Gospel message first requires shame and repentance — not tolerating someone’s right to openly sin and mock God.
It’s a sad commentary on the moral state of America, but the reality is that one can expect to see a drag queen pop up just about anywhere these days. We see them reading books to elementary school kids in public schools. We see them on military installations. We, of course, see them at homosexual “pride” parades.
Despite the increasing prevalence of these costumed, heavily made-up, beclowned displays of sexual degeneracy, one might still reasonably assume that a Christian music award show would be drag queen-free, right?
Unfortunately for this year that was not the case. The Christian award show at the center of this issue is known as the Dove Awards. These are annual accolades presented by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in the Christian music industry. While they do have a dress code, all it says is that “Business/formal attire is encouraged.”
To be clear, there is no indication that the GMA or the Dove Awards extended a proactive invitation to the characters we are about to be introduced to. But again, it would not be unreasonable to assume they would want to show the watching world a clear Christian image of God-honoring sexuality and gender roles.
Let’s move on to Derek Webb. It was his post that started this whole conflagration and conversation. Webb was a fixture in CCM for years, entering the industry and rising to fame as a member of the (formerly) Christian band Caedmon’s Call. As a member of Caedmon’s Call, Webb saw career sales approaching 1 million records, along with 10 GMA Dove Award nominations and three Dove Award wins.
Thousands of Christian kids grew up listening to Caedmon’s Call on local Christian radio stations in the early 2000s. They were supposed to be the family-friendly, biblically based rock alternative. Given his success with the band, Webb is no stranger to the Dove Awards. In 2023, however, he decided to make the awards show stranger — and more sinful.
He posted a picture to X (formerly Twitter) with the simple caption: “54th annual Dove Awards, here we come.”
As the saying goes, it was the picture that was worth 1,000 words: Derek Webb in a dress and stockings, joined by an openly homosexual “Christian” artist known as Semler and the drag queen “Flamy Grant” (the name is a rip-off of another popular Christian artist, Amy Grant).
In a follow-up video, Webb offered his explanation for why he wore a dress. He said:
“As a cis, straight, white man, I walk into a room like that (and any room) with an incredible amount of advantage and privilege. If I’m attending as an ally of friends and colleagues, I should do everything possible to surrender that privilege at the door. If the way you look at my loved ones isn’t the way you’re looking at me, I’m not truly standing with them.”
He then quoted progressive Christian pastor Stan Mitchell, who has said, “If you claim to be someone’s ally but aren’t getting hit by the stones thrown at them, you aren’t standing close enough.” Webb’s closing remarks justifying his sinful cross-dressing? “Plus, I have amazing legs.”
Sadly, this is the general state of much (but not all) of the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) industry — LGBT-affirming, woke, deconstructed, and largely apostate.
Now, it’s bad enough that Derek Webb is cross-dressing. It’s even worse — a true mockery of the entire notion of God-honoring gospel music — that a genuine drag queen made himself such a “proud” part of this celebration.
According to an article on ChurchLeaders.com,
“Earlier this year, Webb released what he described as his ‘first Christian and gospel album in 10 years,’ which featured a song with Flamy Grant, titled ‘Boys Will Be Girls.’” Flamy Grant is not just any drag queen—he’s Derek’s musical companion.
Flamy Grant gave his own justification for their behavior, saying, “We’re there to represent, take up our little bit of space, and bring our queer joy to an awards show that, frankly, needs it. A lot of us grew up listening to CCM and watching the Doves. While we’re not interested in asking for acceptance or approval from the GMA (we accept and approve of ourselves, thank you very much!), this little queer expedition party is about planting a metaphorical pride flag in territory that hasn’t been willing to wave one for us.”
Have they no shame? The question answers itself.
While many (but not all) in the CCM industry have followed our God-forsaking culture down the slippery slope of the rainbow way, one artist, John Cooper, has not.
Faithwire reported that “Cooper argued people like Grant and Webb are taking advantage of Christians who don’t know how to speak up boldly and compassionately on issues like sexuality,” before adding,
“Obviously, they’re just trying to get attention, they’re trying to disrupt, and they’re going about it in a clever way. And the truth is they are being the aggressors in this.
They know that Christians are so wimpy and weak. They know that Christians are then going to somehow feel intimidated by them and not know how to act.
When you’re dealing with people who claim the name of Christ, who then refuse to stop these patterns of behavior that the Bible condemns, then we have a responsibility not to associate with these people.”
Cooper is absolutely correct. Christians could rightly expect that the Dove Awards would begin this process of disassociation in the future, and do more to police the dress of those in attendance. It is good and right to hope and pray that they will have the courage to deny drag queens an entrance to a “family-friendly” Christian music awards show going forward.
Cooper went on to rightly point out how much of the CCM industry has failed on this front, refusing to be clear about Christian sexual ethics and to speak up about what the Bible has to teach on these issues.
“If there was clarity in the Christian music industry about what it truly meant to be a follower of Jesus, I think that people wouldn’t feel comfortable to come and express ‘queer joy,’” Cooper said. “I think they would be like, ‘This isn’t for us.’”
He also made it clear that showing “love” to those both lost in and promoting sin does not mean unlimited “tolerance.” Where the Bible draws clear lines, Christians should be willing to defend and enforce those lines, even if it “infringes” upon personal expression. Cooper asked:
“Sincere question: were Christians not acting like Jesus when they spoke against slavery? Or stood for civil rights? Was Bonhoeffer a judgmental Pharisee when he was warning the church against Hitler?
More sincere questions: if people attended the Doves dressed in KKK hoods, would ‘love for Christ and being about the Father’s business’ demand silence from Christian artists? After all, God is the judge, not us, right? ‘What’s a little racism in our midst?’
So, will you support folks attending in blackface? What if a section of CCM artists began promoting ‘shout your abortion,’ and praising the killing of the unborn as an act of love. Does Jesus respond to that? Or does He just love people so much that He stays silent about calling good evil and evil good?”
God does not stay silent when it comes to these evils. The Bible is clear that homosexual lusts are a perversion of God’s good creation order (Romans 1). Deuteronomy 22:5 also teaches that “A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor a man wear women’s clothing, for the LORD your God detests anyone who does this.”
The point of these passages is to instruct Christians about what is shameful. There is a certain grace to shame. A grace that leads unto repentance. A grace that leads to the true Gospel — not the queer version offered by the drag queens at Christian music award shows.
Cooper added that he was “literally speechless” when he saw that photo. That’s understandable. But as soon as we find our voice, the first thing that should come out of the mouth of God-fearing Christians is “Repent!”
Derek Webb, drag queens like Flamy Grant, and “queer” artists like Semler need to be saved. Many in the Christian music industry need conversion. And it appears the Gospel Music Association should seriously consider how they can work to make the Gospel more clearly visible at their celebrations in the future.
Webb, Semler, and Flamy Grant indeed have “pride,” but it’s misplaced pride. Instead of pride, they should feel shame. May God grant them the grace of shame so that they can repent of their pride and sexual immorality, find new life at the foot of the cross, and in doing so, trade in their cross-dressing for white robes washed in the blood of the Lamb.
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