New Yorker: Gospel Home for Gays

As presented in the New Yorkers' "Revelations", Kelefa Sanneh profiles Tonéx, a.k.a. Anthony Charles Williams II, the gospel star whose admission, last September, that he is gay precipitated a stunning fall from grace. A decade ago, Tonéx’s breakthrough album, "Pronounced Toe-Nay," "marked the arrival of a major new voice in gospel music," Sanneh writes. "His success was proof of the continued popularity of gospel music, a vibrant genre with its own infrastructure and star-making machinery; he was a welcome guest at all the biggest black churches, a regular presence on BET’s gospel shows, and a headliner at the gospel festivals that fill theatres and arenas nationwide." Then, last fall, in an interview with the gospel channel Word Network, Tonéx came out of the closet, becoming the first high-profile gospel singer in history to do so. Almost immediately, he started losing gigs, and his support within the gospel community melted away. Sanneh writes, "By going public, and by suggesting that a homosexual relationship can be as godly (or ungodly) as a heterosexual one, Tonéx went from being just another sinner to being a high-profile heretic."

Read full article here: A gospel singer comes out by Kelefa Sanneh