An anti-LGBTQ+ activist helped a drag queen become America’s #1 Christian musician

For the first time in history, a drag queen’s album has attained the number one spot on the Christian and Gospel iTunes music charts, and it’s all due to an anti-LGBTQ+ Christian whose attempt to shame her spectacularly backfired.

Last month, Christian musician Derek Webb collaborated with Christian drag musician Flamy Grant for the music video to “Boys Will Be Girls,” Webb’s song about loving queer people who have been abandoned by the church.

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A teacher got fired for attending a drag show. The queens rallied in her defense.

One teacher said she felt like she and her coworker “were treated like criminals.”

In the video, Grant helps Webb transform into a blue-haired drag queen, and the two sing the song’s final verse inside of a church.

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The final verse states: “I heard Jesus loved and spent his life with those who / Were abandoned by proud and fearful men / So if a church won’t celebrate and love you / They’re believing lies that can’t save you or them / ‘Cause you’re so beautiful by any name.”

Apparently upset by the video, anti-LGBTQ+ Christian activist Sean Feucht — a man who accused Disney of “fighting for children to be sexually indoctrinated as a kindergartner” — wrote via Twitter on July 26 that Webb is part of the “deconstruction movement,” a movement within the Evangelical Christian church urging people to question and leave behind any negative religious beliefs that they were raised with.

Feucht wrote, “If you’re wondering the end goal of the deconstruction movement in the church, then look no further than former worship leader @derekwebb’s new collab with a drag queen. These are truly the last days.”

If you're wondering the end goal of the deconstruction movement in the church, then look no further than former worship leader @derekwebb's new collab with a drag queen.

These are truly the last days. https://t.co/sgvzGFoRgu

— Sean Feucht (@seanfeucht) July 26, 2023

In response, Grant wrote, “End goal? Baby, we’re just getting started. [wink kiss emoji].”

Feucht responded, “Well good for us hardly anyone listens or cares what you do. Bad for you is that one day you’ll sit before Jesus and give an account for the perversion you tried to force on kids.”

Well good for us hardly anyone listens or cares what you do. Bad for you is that one day you’ll sit before Jesus and give an account for the perversion you tried to force on kids. There’s a verse about a millstone to warn you (Matt 18:6). 🙏🏽

— Sean Feucht (@seanfeucht) July 26, 2023

Grant then announced via social media, “Ok I’m gonna do it. Sean Feucht thinks ‘hardly anyone’ is interested in a worship song by a drag queen. How about we try to get my song Good Day to chart on Christian iTunes?”

She succeeded far beyond her initial goal. Not only did the song become number 1 on iTunes’ Christian and Gospel music singles by Thursday evening, but the September 2022 album the song came from, Bible Belt Baby, also became number 1 among all of iTunes’ Christian and Gospel music albums, helping Grant make history as the first drag queen ever to do so.

Grant and Webb also noted that musical LGBTQ+ ally Kristin Chenoweth and RuPaul’s Drag Race judge Michelle Visage also showed support for Grant on their Instagram Stories.

Noting the achievement, Twitter user @benwrightish wrote, “@seanfeucht did an amazing job of platforming a drag queen and launching them to the top of the Christian charts on iTunes. Congrats to @FlamyGrant and @derekwebb!!”

In response, Grant wrote, “Never forget this is all thanks to @seanfeucht.”

Never forget this is all thanks to @seanfeucht https://t.co/1rsxHC2O7x

— Flamy Grant (@FlamyGrant) July 27, 2023

In an Instagram post noting her achievement, Grant wrote, “I told my housemate… last night before we went to bed [of my fan request to help my song make the charts]: ‘I hope this doesn’t flop. That would be pretty embarrassing.'”

“Y’all. We did not flop. You f**king activated,” Grant added. “I don’t know what else to say except: if you’re gonna come for a drag queen, you better be ready for how she comes back. She comes back with an army of love. Thank you all so much.”

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A post shared by Flamy Grant (@flamygrant)

In a series of July 29 tweets, Grant wrote, “[Christian music] was the only music I was allowed to listen to. If I had encountered queer-affirming music as a kid (much less a drag queen!), I might have escaped years of complex trauma. And saved thousands of $$ in therapy. They love to call what I do indoctrination, but we know better.”

“The groomers are in the evangelical church, forcing their queer kids into boxes they will never fit,” she added. “Drag shows them a future where they can exist wholly as themselves: thriving, happy, resilient, brave, and beautiful. Thank you for amplifying that message. Love y’all.”

Webb told the progressive Christian magazine Sojourners that he wrote the song “Boys Will Be Girls” after feeling personally moved by the vulnerability and trust of a “dear person” who chose him as one of the first people they came out to.

“Especially with what’s happening in my home state of Tennessee and what’s happening all over the country with so many laws we’re seeing being rolled back [and] protections for the queer community — I don’t wish for there to be battlelines around issues like this, but if there are, I’ve always wanted to be very clear where I stand.”

“That’s exactly the kind of trouble I like to stay in,” he said. “And ironically, the kind of trouble I see Jesus getting into: standing with the people whom arrogant church people judge, marginalize, and pursue with violence.”

However, Webb also said that as a “cisgender straight white man” he feels it most important to elevate the voices of queer musicians, like Maddie Zahm and Semler, who are trying to contribute something “meaningful and disruptive” to the Christian music industry.