Tag: semler

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Gay-Affirming ‘Switchfoot’ Singer Jon Foreman Snaps Pic Hugging Queer ‘Christian’ Artist

Two years ago, Jon Foreman, the frontman of the legendary Christian band Switchfoot, responded to the coaxing of a queer “Christian” artist questioning his pro-LGBTQ+ creds, telling her that LGBTQ+ people are always welcome at his concerts and that he supports gay rights and freedoms. 

Though less prominent than she is now, that person was Semler, the foul-mouthed singer we last saw attending the Dove Awards with Caedmon’s Call’s cross-dressing singer Derek Webb. A pro-choice non-binary lesbian who is currently ‘married’ and expecting a baby with her ‘spouse,’ she expressed her belief that Christians are disproportionately harmful to LGBTQ people, and so her practice was to wear her Pride shirt to concerts and shout out “Gay rights!” in between songs and then tagging the band on TikTok, hoping that they’ll respond to her in an affirming message and not do some bait and switch like “I love you too.”

By “gay rights” she means the right to marry, the right to be free from discrimination, the right to access any bathroom they or transgendered allies choose, and a host of other ones. According to Semler, because Christians have been specific in their hurt, they need to be specific in their affirmation.

Lead singer Jon Foreman did not disappoint, responding to her in a way that left her feeling completely affirmed. After shouting out “gay rights” at one of his shows and tagging him on social media, Foreman responded to her personally in a TikTok video, saying:

“I saw your story and wanted to respond and tell you, ‘Yes, I support your rights and freedoms.’ I want you to feel loved and supported…. May you find peace, truth, and love on your journey. Keep writing songs, keep creating beauty, keep reaching out, and keep being honest, chasing beauty and truth and light and love.”

Semler took his words to heart, explaining that her takeaway is that the band is LGBTQ-affirming, and wanting him to confirm and clarify, which he did in the form of a little “like.”

I don’t know if you know how meaningful that affirmation was. I am interpreting what you said as being affirming. If I’m incorrect in that, then I really hope you would clarify. Because I think for many queer people of faith, the bait and switch of hearing such encouraging words like yours and then finding out it means something else is heartbreaking.

It’s no surprise that Semler, whose songs contain many references to Switchfoot and whose heart he did not break, attended their concert armed with a VIP pass in tow. She posted a picture on social media with their arms around each other and fists raised, captioned: “A lot can happen in two years. I had a great birthday.”

Sadly, Switchfoot and Foreman continue to show why they’ve joined the ranks of other formerly-Christian-and-now gay-affirming-bands we’ve catalogued, including Amy Grant, Jennifer Knapp, Jars of Clay, DC Talk’s Kevin Max, Relient K, Caedmon’s Call, The Rend Collective, Five Iron Frenzy, Plumb, and Sara Groves,

What an ugly letdown.

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Openly Queer ‘Christian’ Artist Announces That Her ‘Wife’ is Pregnant

Openly queer ‘Christian’ artist Semler has announced on TikTok that she’s expecting a baby with her ‘wife’ Elizabeth Capel.

Semler (Grace Baldridge) is a newcomer to the Christian music scene. She’s a ‘married’ non-binary lesbian who has been gaining some publicity after her previous profanity-laced album briefly held the top spot on iTunes Christian and Gospel charts and after a recent song hit #1 on those same charts this summer. Last year she toured with Relient K, the queer-affirming former Christian band, gaining prominence and visibility. She also recently wrote the “world’s gayest worship song” after channeling the hurt of someone who “broke my heart for Jesus.”

Ticking off all the boxes you’d expect to see from a woman with her haircut, she raged against the ruling to overrule Roe v Wade, tweeting out a link where people could give to nearly 90 pro-choice abortion funds, then pleaded to be considered for “Best New Artist” at the 53rd annual Dove Awards, an event she ultimately attended with current Caedmons Call singer and drag performer Derek Webb.

Now, through the monstrous use of IVF, Capel is pregnant, with the baby due in early spring.

@semlerrrr

small update

♬ original sound – ✦✧

Pray for the poor child who will grow up purposefully robbed of a father and subjected to confusion and emotional abuse throughout his or her life.

h/t The Dissenter

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Queer ‘Christian’ Artist Song Approaching ‘Top 10’ on iTunes Christian and Gospel Charts

Two weeks ago we told you queer ‘Christian’ artist Semler was contacting KLove radio for airtime and hoping her new single makes it on air. Looks like she got her wish.

Semler is a newcomer to the Christian music scene, a non-binary lesbian who has been gaining some publicity after her profanity-laced album briefly held the top spot on iTunes Christian and Gospel charts. Last year she toured with Relient K, the queer-affirming former Christian band, gaining prominence and visibility. She also recently wrote the “world’s gayest worship song” after channeling the hurt of someone who “broke my heart for Jesus.”

Ticking off all the boxes you’d expect to see from a woman with her haircut, last year she raged against the ruling to overrule Roe v Wade, tweeting out a link where people could give to nearly 90 pro-choice abortion funds, then pleaded to be considered for “Best New Artist” at the 53rd annual Dove Awards, an event she ultimately attended.

Now released, her song ‘Faith’ has been inching higher and higher, and she’s been charting its trajectory.

Semler and her small army of die-hard fans have been hitting the phones hard, contacting multiple Christian radio stations to request her song. She’s also apparently got an ‘in’ with some at K-Love Christian radio, and they will purportedly be playing her music shortly.

Looks like she got her wish.

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Queer ‘Christian’ Artist Hopes New Single Goes Big+ Asks K-Love Radio for Airtime

Semler is a queer artist and is a newcomer to the Christian music scene, gaining some publicity after her profanity-laced album briefly held the top spot on iTunes Christian and Gospel charts. Last year she toured with Relient K, the queer-affirming former Christian band, gaining prominence and visibility. She also recently wrote the “world’s gayest worship song” after channeling the hurt of someone who “broke my heart for Jesus.”

Semler’s real name is Grace Semler Baldridge. She’s a non-binary lesbian married (now divorced?) to a woman while purposefully altering her appearance to look like a man—giving the impression she’s about one upper chest surgery from becoming transgender. And no, she’s not really a Christian.

Ticking off all the boxes you’d expect to see from a woman with her haircut, last year she raged against the ruling to overrule Roe v Wade, tweeting out a link where people could give to nearly 90 pro-choice abortion funds, then pleaded to be considered for “Best New Artist” at the 53rd annual Dove Awards, an event she ultimately attended.

She also has a new single coming out on June 8, her song ‘Faith’, which she wrote on the way back from that award show.  Seemingly about the disappointment she feels about the unjust & unloving way she’s treated in the Christian music industry, some of the lyrics include:

When my religion turned against me
They said my hopes and dreams are faulty
I showed the holes inside my hands
And they claimed they couldn’t see
So I’ve been walking with a blindfold
Towards the promise of revival
And it’s not the one you preach
It’s the one we need

You got me singing Hallelujah and I don’t even want to do it
I’m just trying to be free
We’re just dying for some peace

But I still have faith
When you call my name. Never been the same
I still have faith
How you comfort me. When they come for me
Call that mercy

Semler is hoping the song goes viral so she can have the “opportunity to do the funniest thing ever to Christian radio this month.”

The way things are going in the Christian music industry, it wouldn’t surprise us if she gets her wish.

We’ll let you know how it goes.

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Queer ‘Christian’ Artist Holds Protest Show After Not Being Invited to the Dove Awards

Queer “Christian’ artist Semler has been pleading to be considered for this year’s “Best New Artist” at the 53rd annual Dove Awards, which are given for outstanding achievements in the Christian music industry. She hoped the committee would consider her despite her flagrant promotion of LGBTQ theology and beliefs in her public and private life and ignore the fact that she is an out-and-out pagan.

Baldridge gained publicity after her profanity-laced album briefly took the top spot on iTunes Christian and Gospel charts. Last year she toured with Relient K, the queer-affirming former Christian band, gaining prominence and visibility. She also recently wrote the “world’s gayest worship song” after channeling the hurt of someone who “broke my heart for Jesus.”

Unfortunately for her, she didn’t even make it past the first round of voting, which is decided by Gospel Music Association (GMA) members (professionals who work full-time and earn their income primarily from the Christian and Gospel Music Industry.)

After begging to be invited as someone’s plus one and seemingly having no takers, she chastised the show for being “goofy” and “on the wrong side of history,” announcing that she is holding a ‘protest show’ in the same city on the same weekend.

Here’s hoping to decades of never being invited.

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Drag Queen Album Feat. Prominent Apostatized Christian Artists Launching Soon

In less than two weeks, Drag Queen and musician Flamy Grant (Real name Matthew Blake) is set to release his album ‘Bible Belt Baby,’ about the spiritual trauma he endured growing up in a town where his whole world was a “faith-saturated, fundamentalist, very evangelical space that didn’t exactly embrace a queer kid with cross-dressing tendencies.”

@flamygrant The first single from #BibleBeltBaby is due very soon. 💅🏼💚 #dragqueen #exvangelical #religioustrauma #evangelical #ccm #gospelmusic ♬ original sound – Flamy Grant

Blake, who describes himself as a “shame-slaying, soothsaying, hip-swaying heathen and infidel” while singing “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord a look. A bless his hearts, we’re gonna leave them feeling shook” has a bit of help on this nasty little endeavor, with collaborators Jennifer Knapp, Grace Baldridge (Semler) and Derek Webb lending a hand.

Jennifer Knapp is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter who sold a million albums with her first three releases Kansas, Lay It Down (2000), and The Way I Am (2001). Perhaps best known for the song ‘Undo me,’ she won four Dove Awards before going on hiatus for the better part of a the decade, reemerging as a lesbian and LGBTQ advocate who recently sang at an ELCA ordination while being accompanied by drag queen nuns.

Webb apostatized several years ago into the purest form of paganism, but used to be the frontman for Caedmon’s Call, garnering 10 GMA Dove Award nominations and half as many Christian radio hits.

Semler is an openly queer artist breaking into the Christian music scene, gaining some publicity after her profanity-laced album briefly the top spot on iTunes Christian and Gospel charts. She gained prominence after going on tour with gay-affirming Relient K and for getting Switchfoot lead singer Jon Foreman to make gay-affirming statements.

According to his website, “Flamy is founder and co-host of Heathen Podcast, a show about breaking up with bad religion; a songstress and musician who performs across the country; and the internet’s polygender preacher, taking on toxic religion by turning looks and tearing down shame in her signature 60-second sermons on TikTok.”

A featured panelist at the upcoming Spiritual DragCon, his single ‘What Did You Drag Me Into? is set for release on September 12, with the whole album dropping on the 23rd.

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Queer Christian Artist Begs to be Nominated for a Dove Award. Did She Make the Ballot?

Queer “Christian’ artist Semler has been pleading to be considered for this year’s “Best New Artist” at the 53rd annual Dove Awards, which are given for outstanding achievements in the Christian music industry. She hoped the committee would consider her despite her flagrant promotion of LGBTQ theology and beliefs in her public and private life.

Semler’s real name is Grace Semler Baldridge. She’s a non-binary lesbian married (now divorced?) to a woman while purposefully altering her appearance to look like a man—giving the impression she’s about one upper chest surgery from becoming transgender. She’s not a Christian even a little bit, despite seeking to be seen as such.

Baldridge gained some publicity after her profanity-laced album briefly took the top spot on iTunes Christian and Gospel charts. In the last few months, she’s been touring with Relient K, the queer affirming former Christian band, gaining prominence and visibility.

She also recently wrote the “world’s gayest worship song” after channeling the hurt of someone who “broke my heart for Jesus.”

Unfortunately for her, it looks like she didn’t even make it past the first round of voting, which is decided by Gospel Music Association (GMA) members (professionals who work full-time and earn their income primarily from the Christian and Gospel Music Industry)

She is undaunted, however, and is looking to attend as a guest. Given the state of the GMA, we fully expect her to be attending come the fall.

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‘Christian’ Artist Rages Against Roe v Wade Ruling, Promotes Pro-Choice Donations

Semler is a queer artist and is a newcomer to the Christian music scene, gaining some publicity after her profanity-laced album briefly the top spot on iTunes Christian and Gospel charts. In the last few months, she’s been touring with Relient K, the queer affirming former Christian band, and has been endorsed by Switcfoot, gaining prominence and visibility on account of it.

Her real name is Grace Semler Baldridge, she’s a butch lesbian who’s married (now divorced?) to a woman while purposefully altering her appearance to look like a man—giving the impression she’s about one upper chest surgery from becoming transgendered. She’s not a Christian even a little bit, despite seeking to be seen as such. She also recently released the ‘World’s Gayest Worship Song’

In a recent post on Twitter, she rages against the recent ruling to overrule Roe v Wade, tweeting out a link where people can give to nearly 90 pro-choice abortion funds.

Why would anyone expect any different?

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Lesbian Christian Artist Releases ‘World’s Gayest Worship Song’- Will It Go Mainstream in Churches?

Semler is a queer artist and is a newcomer to the Christian music scene, gaining some publicity after her profanity-laced album briefly the top spot on iTunes Christian and Gospel charts. In the last few months, she’s been touring with Relient K, the queer affirming former Christian band, gaining prominence and visibility on account of it.

Her real name is Grace Semler Baldridge, she’s a butch lesbian who’s married (now divorced?) to a woman while purposefully altering her appearance to look like a man—giving the impression she’s about one upper chest surgery from becoming transgendered. She’s not a Christian even a little bit, despite seeking to be seen as such.

Now, she’s revealed on Twitter that she’s written the “world’s gayest worship song” after channeling the hurt of someone who “broke my heart for Jesus.” While it’s no coincidence that it was released at the start of Pride Month, due to the musician’s skill and growing fame, there is a very real chance that this song could go mainstream within Christian churches, and would serve as the “in” she needs to dig her talons into the bride of Christ, as undiscerning and disobedient churches begin to play it mashed between Hillsong and Jesus Culture.

The song comes from her April 13, 2022 EP Songs of a Breakdown

Raise Up

Bring me your weak and weary
Bring me your strange and cold
I come for hope and healing
That you won’t feel alone

So raise up, raise up, raise up
So raise up, raise up
So raise up, raise up, raise up
I have told you that

[Chorus]
I am the way and the truth and the life
I’m justice, I am all that is right
Carry on now, carry on
Carry on now

And there’s a galaxy behind your eyelids
And there’s a war in your house
And there’s a meaning that is far beyond us
And there is courage in doubt

So raise up, raise up, raise up
So raise up, raise up
So raise up, raise up, raise up
I have told you that

I am the way and the truth and the life
I’m justice, I am all that is right
Carry on now, carry on
Carry on now

The song, which was released on her

Bonus content. The other songs on her album, are not so nice, such as “You’re Not My Friend Anymore”

Check tape
You used a natural disaster just so you could go and ruin my day
Fuck sake
Like if I’m really such a heathen why can’t you just stay the hell out my way?
Oh, I pray that Jesus Christ is revealed to you one day
You’d say the same
And text me back with ice inside your veins
I’m burning up
Thank God I know this bullshit isn’t love (Oh)

[Pre-Chorus]
‘Cause you’re not my friend (You’re not my friend)
And I think you fucking know it, you’re embarrassed and it’s showing (You’re not my friend)
Yeah, you talk your shit in private; I go public, you don’t like it

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‘Christian’ Artist Who Tours with Relient K Openly Advocates for Abortion

Semler is a queer artist and is a newcomer to the Christian music scene, gaining some publicity after her profanity-laced album briefly the top spot on iTunes Christian and Gospel charts. In the last few months, she’s been touring with Relient K, the queer affirming former Christian band, gaining prominence and visibility on account of it.

Her real name is Grace Semler Baldridge, she’s a butch lesbian who’s married (now divorced?) to a woman while purposefully altering her appearance to look like a man—giving the impression she’s about one upper chest surgery from becoming transgendered.

Semler has openly advocated for LGBTQ allies to shout out “gay rights” during Christian concerts in order to force the bands to publicly comment and confront their views on the issue. She recently made news after doing this same thing at a Switchfoot concert, resulting in lead singer Jon Foreman Releasing a pro-LGBTQ TikTok video.

Lest one imagine that she has no other troubling theological idiosyncrasies and tics other than her unapologetic advocacy for LGBTQ, you’d be mistaken. Baldridge is openly pro-choice, saying that the murder of babies in the womb is not “anti-Christian” while re-tweeting Planned Parenthood and pro-choice talking points.

This is wholly unsurprising. There is no one whose only bad theology and decrepit worldview are relegated to the acceptance of homosexuality as a moral good. The heart and mind that is able to allow for it, this sinful grotesquerie, will surely be corrupted by other destructive heresies and have other devilish ideas waiting in the wings.

For those that platformed her, you sowed the wind, now reap the whirlwind.