Obama Under Fire for Link to singer Donnie McClurklin

WASHINGTON (AP) — A gay rights group on Monday urged Barack Obama to cut ties with a gospel singer who it says spreads false information about homosexuality being a choice.

Donnie McClurkin is among several gospel singers scheduled to raise money for the Illinois senator and Democratic presidential candidate at a concert in South Carolina this weekend.

McClurkin has drawn attention from gay rights activists for his views on homosexuality.

"I don't believe that it is the intention of God," McClurkin said Monday in a telephone interview. "Sexuality, everything is a matter of choice."

McClurkin said he does not believe in discriminating against homosexuals. "What people do in their bedrooms and who they are as human beings are two different things," he said.

In a statement, Obama said he believes gays and lesbians are "our brothers and sisters" and should be afforded the same respect, dignity and rights granted all other citizens.

"I have consistently spoken directly to African-American religious leaders about the need to overcome the homophobia that persists in some parts our community so that we can confront issues like HIV/AIDS and broaden the reach of equal rights in this country," Obama said. "I strongly believe that African Americans and the LGBT community must stand together in the fight for equal rights. And so I strongly disagree with Reverend McClurkin's views and will continue to fight for these rights as president of the United States to ensure that America is a country that spreads tolerance instead of division."

The statement did not say whether McClurkin will still perform on the tour.

"We strongly urge Obama to part ways with this divisive preacher who is clearly singing a different tune than the stated message of the campaign," Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out, said in a statement.

At a forum on gay issues in August, Obama argued that civil unions for same-sex couples wouldn't be a "lesser thing" than marriage. Obama belongs to the United Church of Christ, which supports gay marriage, but Obama has yet to go that far.

In a telephone interview Monday, Besen said he admired Obama, but wasn't ready to endorse him, especially considering McClurkin taking part in the campaign's "Embrace the Change" concert tour.

"I think he'd be a great president. But I think it's going to drive away support from people who are on the fence such as myself," Besen said.

McClurkin is a Grammy Award winner who performed at the Republican National Convention in 2004. He told AP Radio in an interview that September that he was "once involved with those desires and those thoughts," which he attributed to being raped at 8 and 13.

"That's what thrust me into it, and then God delivered me from that and gave me back who I really am and my true purpose," McClurkin said.

Still on Lock Down

U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan Baverman has denied T.I.’s lawyers’ request that their client be released on bond while he awaits trial on federal weapons charges [to learn all the details of the case click here and here].

Judge Baverman announced that he will hold another hearing a week from today to further consider the bond proposal presented by T.I.’s lawyers in court today.

T.I.’s attorneys presented a bond proposal to the court asking that their client be released on a $2.2 million bond (with a half-million dollar cash deposit), in addition to a $1 million signature bond signed by T.I.’s recording home, Atlantic Records. The label also contributed five $100,00 signature bonds signed by five executives from Atlantic and Warner Music. Additionally, two $100,00 surety bonds from different bonding companies and the $1.5 million equity in T.I.’s two homes were also offered up to the court. A total of $5.4 million was presented to procure T.I.’s release.

Judge Baverman does not believe that much money for bond is needed, but he is demanding that T.I. post $2 million in cash – not $500,000 as his lawyers had proposed – plus the equity in all the property he owns.

Attorneys for T.I. also proposed putting their client on monitored home confinement until trial, along with having a person in the home 24 hours a day to monitor activities there. Judge Baverman said that he wants to consider companies to do that monitoring and hear evidence regarding them. If the judge does decide to release T.I. to such monitoring until his trial, he will be essentially imprisoned in his home, unable to leave the premises. T.I. will also have to wear an electronic monitoring device.

If released, additional conditions placed on T.I. until trial will include his submission to drug tests, any searches of his property, and the removal of any safes in his home.

In addition to learning that he will remain behind bars for at least another week, T.I. was also formerly arraigned this morning on the three charges that a federal grand jury formerly indicted him on two days ago.

T.I. entered a plea of not guilty to the charges of illegally possessing unregistered machine guns and silencers, unlawfully possessing those guns, and possessing those weapons as a convicted felon.

Contrary to previous reports, due to the formal indictment on Wednesday federal prosecutors were not forced to show probable cause for T.I.’s arrest at today’s hearing.

During the proceedings at the Richard B. Russell Federal Building and Courthouse in Atlanta federal prosecutors argued that T.I. should not be released on bond because of his previous criminal history, and that he was arrested buying machine guns, he poses both a flight risk and a danger to the community.

Prosecutors also revealed in court today that T.I. had roughly a half-pound of marijuana in his vehicle when he was arrested. Reportedly, when he was taken into custody T.I. told ATF agents that he had just smoked marijuana. But per an interview conducted with a pre-trial services officer he claimed he had not smoked marijuana in more than a year.

This contradiction reportedly distressed Judge Baverman, who otherwise expressed that he was impressed by T.I.’s talent, as well as the generosity he’s shown to the community.

T.I. has assembled a “dream team” of attorneys to defend him at trial. In addition to his previously hired counsel, Dwight Thomas and Steve Sadow, Ed Garland and his longtime legal partner Don Samuel have joined T.I.’s defense team.

Previously, Garland helped spare the Baltimore Ravens’ Ray Lewis from going to jail on murder charges.
According to federal mandatory sentencing guidelines, if convicted at trial T.I. is likely facing five years in a federal penitentiary.

T.I. Big Thangs Poppin

T.I Arrested on the night of the bet awards

Pray for him even if you think he is guilty

T.I. Black Man On The Ropes

At first my initial reaction was "damn he had to have got set up" then the facts hit the streets. No set up, no wrong place at the wrong time, pure stupidity. My thought then was, why do we have to always do stupid things when we get money. Us as black men must know that when we get to that status that we are under a microscope, honestly for anyone who reaches that status they are under a microscope but for us as black men we get the norm plus the extra because of who we are.

So with that being said, what is the verdict? When I say that I am not meaning what will the judge say but, what was going through his mind. Is this a fetish, was he about to be under attack? The man was trying to purchase gun Silencer............. come on now, if you have a silencer or are looking into buying one then your intent is to kill NOT PROTECT but kill someone, there is a difference. I am not knocking T.I. this is not a Hate T.I. post, I love the guy as a brother because he is a black man, If he is guilty I am behind him and I say let's get him some help, if he is not then I am behind him and I say, let's bring down the motherf*****s trying to destroy his image and add to the stereo type that us as black men don't know how to act when we get some money.

That's all on this topic for today, stay on the look out for diffrent parts on T.I Black Man On The Ropes.