The Recording Academy has removed drag queen Flamy Grant’s album “Bible Belt Baby” from consideration for Best Contemporary Christian Album at this year’s Grammy Awards. The album has instead been moved over to the Pop category.
While it may seem strange that the Recording Academy, a nonreligious entity, can make the determination as to what constitutes Christian music, it is worth noting that many of the lyrics in Grant’s songs contain expletives—something that is absent from all other Christian works being considered.
Grant has recently been making a splash in Christian circles, provoking outrage among conservative evangelicals and garnering support from influencers in the Christian deconstruction space. Among those allies is Derek Webb, singer and guitarist for the Christian band Caedmon’s Call.
Webb and Grant collaborated earlier this year for Webb’s solo album entitled “The Jesus Hypothesis.” The two perform together on the song “Boys Will Be Girls.” In the music video for that song, both Webb and Grant can be seen dressing in drag.
Last month, Grant and Webb further raised the ire of conservative evangelicals when they attended the Gospel Music Association’s Dove Awards in Nashville. Grant was dressed in drag for the event, and Webb donned a dress. Also accompanying them was Semler, an openly queer Christian artist.
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Last year, Semler—who has topped the Christian charts on iTunes more than once—publicly petitioned the Gospel Music Association to consider her for a Dove Award in the Best New Artist category to no avail.
Flamy Grant’s Grammy Category Shift
As for Grant, not only was “Bible Belt Baby” not considered for awards by the Gospel Music Association but now the album has been removed from consideration for awards in the Christian category at the Grammys.
One of the album’s tracks is titled “Esther, Ruth and Rahab.” While Grant told Rolling Stone that it is “the most biblical song I’ve ever written,” it does contain several expletives, including one reference to male genitalia.
Describing patriarchal structures in the evangelical church, Grant sings, “So I guess the lesson there was God would only hear a prayer if it came from a person with a c**k.”
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Throughout the song, Grant celebrates women in the Bible who would be considered heroes of the faith, including Esther, Ruth, Rahab, Deborah, and Rachel. Nevertheless, the song also positively references prominent female figures that the Bible does not portray as heroes, such as Jezebel and the witch of Endor, who aided King Saul in summoning the dead spirit of the prophet Samuel in 1 Samuel 28.
