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Ex-Gay, or Faking It?

If you haven't already seen them, here are the "God Hates a Fag" music video and the list of bands that will make you gay from this week's internet-only Christian rock sensation, Donnie Davies. His ex-gay schtick is bound to offend you or make you laugh out loud -- depending on whether you think it's a hoax.

In the video, Donnie dances around in a pink button-up shirt, delivering classic lines like "the Bible says it plain as day: with a man you shall not lay." But he also tosses off innuendo-drenched head-scratchers like "to enter heaven, there's no back door" and "righteous man, get on your knees." The mixed message has inspired endless speculation on whether Donnie is the real deal. To me, it's pretty clear that this is a farce -- a smart, well-acted farce by someone with a studied appreciation for the genre.

Why has it taken off so quickly in the secular blogosphere? People are quick to forward Donnie's material because it's shocking enough to grab your attention, but has just enough irony to leave you questioning whether it's real. A list of "gay bands" with...uh...Ravi Shankar and our buddy Ted Nugent? An fundamentalist site featuring an Oscar Wilde quote? A ex-gay Christian rock song that says Jesus is "the only man for me?" (Hat tip to South Park's "Christian Rock Hard" episode.) Like with last year's Lonelygirl15 mystery, people are intrigued with figuring out whether it's for real.

Take a peek at Donnie's site while there's still a smidgen of intrigue left. Like Borat, it's good performance art that flirts with politics before eloping with entertainment. And whoever Donnie is, his performance is spot-on. As one poster on Dan Savage's blog says, Donnie nails the "so-gay-he-must-be-straight-and-evangelical-or-he'd-sure-as-hell-be-a-drag-queen thing."

Posted by Peter Meredith on 01/26/07 at 10:02 PM | Comments (3) | Email | Print

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