Jennifer Hudson can sing, loves the gays
By Steve Lowery

ILLUSTRATION by LUKE MCGARRY

We all know Jennifer Hudson can sing. That was obvious when we watched her on American Idol and absolutely, transcendently clear in her Academy Award-winning performance in Dreamgirls, when she sang that song and, for the first time in our lives, we stood up in the middle of a movie theater and applauded a flat screen. YOU KNOW YOU DID! Hudson. Can Sing. What may surprise you is that she is also singing at the Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Festival—surprising, since a few months ago, the Interweb was all atwitter—atwitter, I tell you!—with rumors that Hudson, raised a Baptist, had some Biblical problems with homosexuality. Asked last year by the Dallas Voice if she thought homosexuality was a sin, she answered, “According to the way we’re taught, and what it says in the Bible—it is.” Then she came back the next day and issued a statement: “In a recent interview, I was asked how I reconciled being a Christian with performing at events for my gay fans. I find it upsetting that some folks equate being a Christian with being intolerant of gay people. That may, unfortunately, be true for some, but it is not true for me. I have talked often of my love and support of the gay community. I have said again and again that it was the gay community that supported me long before and long after American Idol and kept me working and motivated. It is the gay community that celebrated my voice and my size and my personality long before Dreamgirls.” OK, then. So, let’s forget all of that unpleasantness and just go see Jennifer Hudson and enjoy having her blow us back a few feet. Yeah, yeah, yeah, maybe you’re one of those who only like music that matters—got the London Calling poster hanging over your bed—hey, I’m that way. But, c’mon. There’s something to be said for just letting someone’s voice bowl you over. There’s a beauty and power all in that—that someone can do that. That someone can sing. And Jennifer Hudson can sing.

JENNIFER HUDSON LESBIAN & GAY PRIDE FESTIVAL | MAIN STAGE | SHORELINE DRIVE AT MARINA GREEN | LONGBEACHPRIDE.COM | SUN 8PM | CHECK WEBSITE FOR TICKETS