Christian music star Amy Grant drew a firestorm of commentary — some supportive and some critical — when reports began circulating that she planned to host a same-sex wedding for her niece.
Grant spoke with The Washington Post for a recent profile ahead of her appearance at the Kennedy Center Honors — she was the first contemporary Christian artist to receive that award — and she told the outlet that her niece’s wedding would be the first “bride and bride” arrangement for her family.
“Honestly, from a faith perspective, I do always say, ‘Jesus, you just narrowed it down to two things: love God and love each other.’ I mean, hey — that’s pretty simple,” Grant said.
Some cheered Grant’s announcement, sharing their thoughts on Twitter.
“For so many of us gay church boys of a specific era, Amy Grant was our first kind of crush/pop star, so seeing her host her niece’s same-sex wedding is amazing,” actor Emerson Collins tweeted.
For so many of us gay church boys of a specific era, Amy Grant was our first kind of crush/pop star, so seeing her host her niece’s same-sex wedding is amazing. https://t.co/HXwMGe9NaR
— Emerson Collins (@ActuallyEmerson) December 14, 2022
“Amy Grant getting soft-canceled for defying conservative evangelical expectations …the 90s are back!” Ruth Graham commented.
Not all of the responses were positive, however.
“Amy Grant announced she and her husband Vince Gill are going to host a same-sex wedding on their farm for her niece. Amy is quoted as saying, ‘Jesus, you just narrowed it down to two things: love God & love each other.’ This isn’t love, it’s compromise,” Terri Green said.
The Rev. Franklin Graham was also among those who criticized the singer’s position, tweeting, “Yes, we are to love God & love each other. But if we love God, we will seek to obey His Word. Jesus told us, ‘If you love Me, keep My commandments’ (John 14:15). God defines what is sin, not us; & His Word is clear that homosexuality is a sin.”
For me, loving others also means caring about their souls & where they will spend eternity. It means loving people enough to tell them the truth from the Word of God. The authority of God’s Word is something we can never compromise on.
— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) December 19, 2022
Graham went on to say that loving people did not always mean simply accepting everything they did, noting that sometimes caring about their souls and their relationship with God was loving them as well.
“It means loving people enough to tell them the truth from the Word of God. The authority of God’s Word is something we can never compromise on,” he added.
Grant is no stranger to controversy — she took backlash over the cover photo of her sophomore album, in which she was pictured wearing a button-down shirt with the top three buttons undone. She was later accused of “selling out” when she released the video for her hit song “Baby, Baby” — because the video featured her dancing with a man who was not her husband.
In 1999, she divorced her then-husband Gary Chapman — and married country music star Vince Gill a year later. And despite the fact that both insisted they had only been friends when they were married to other people, the scandal grew legs, and several Christian music stations stopped playing her music.
Gill had nothing but praise for the way his wife stood tall through all the criticism: “The beauty is [the criticism] doesn’t seem to faze her and sure as hell doesn’t change her.”