Progressive drag queen singer with the stage name “Flamy Grant” and songwriter Derek Webb made an appearance at the Gospel Music Association Dove Awards, contemporary Christian music’s most important award show of the year.
Derek Webb said on X that he has won and been nominated for Dove awards previously, but that this would be his first time going to the award show, and for the occasion he was going to wear a dress.
“Despite having won a few over the past 20+ years, tonight will be my first ever trip to the dove awards,” Webb wrote on X. “In the company of some very good friends (@FlamyGrant and @gracebaldridge, among others). I hardly ever dress up, but this feels like a very special occasion.”
Back in the summer, Flamy Grant’s song, “Good Day,” which features Webb, became the No. 1 song on iTunes’ Christian chart. The song discussed Grant’s history with church hurt and showcased acceptance of the LGBTQ lifestyle as the good and moral.
In an interview with Baptist News Global, Grant, whose real name is Matthew Lovegood, shared that he wanted to bring more “queer Christian” representation to the Dove Awards.
“I am interested in representation and taking up space and providing an option for Christians who believe in a God that redeems the whole world, not just the heteronormative parts of it,” Lovegood said.
In a recent Sunday sermon, charismatic deliverance pastor Greg Locke punches back at the Webb and Grant’s move to go to the Dove Awards.
“Do you know what The Gospel Music Association is tolerating these days?” Locke asks his congregation.
He goes on to explain that while the GMA may not find the appearance of Grant to be that big of a deal, the reality is, the acceptance of this kind of a lifestyle is far from a biblical worldview that is supposed to be represented in Christian music.
“The only people in the Bible that made issues out of their pronouns were demons; don’t ever forget that,” Locke says. “Oh, it’s ‘flamy’ all right, because the whole thing’s going straight to a devil’s hell; I can promise you that.”
Locke also warns believers not to listen to Grant’s songs as they promote demonic, not godly values.
“If you got that mess in your playlist you’ve got to get rid of it because it’s an incantation to the devil, I can promise you that right now,” Locke says.
Locke says that on Grant’s website, there are demonic forces openly at work that should trigger any Christian to know to flee from his content.
“You know what the first thing that pops up is?” Locke asks. “He’s sitting at a table with tarot cards in his hand … a crystal ball off to the right, a New Age table covering right there, dream catchers in his ears. And the Dove Awards has been plain about the fact that although they may not be getting any type of award, that they’re certainly welcome to attend the awards ceremony.”
Locke says that what is just as concerning as the demonic spiritual implications that Grant is trying to symbolize on his website is the fact that the Gospel Music Association nonchalantly allowed his attendance: “When The Gospel Music Association gets to a place where it is so cowardly, weak and anemic that they would even let that demonic pervert stand in the parking lot of one of their events.”
This controversy serves as a reminder that we must always be vigilant of the kind of content we feed our spirits because our adversary really is walking around, ready to devour us at any and all moments. {eoa}
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Abby Trivett is a marketing copywriter and coordinator for Charisma Media.
