Kim Burrell is apologizing for the homophobic comments she’s made in the past. The 51-year-old gospel singer issued an apology while accepting the Aretha Franklin Icon Award at the 39th annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards, Billboard reported. Burrell said doing some serious soul-searching led her to realize the impact of her words.

“There is such a care to take when you realize you’re not just preaching to the choir anymore,” Burrell told the audience. “You’re preaching to the ones who wanted to be in the choir and were too scared to come because they didn’t understand our language. … [I] understand that some of my past words, comments, preaching have been received by the LGBTQ+ community as negative and hurtful. There’s nothing more hurtful than to think — to imagine — that you’ve said something in the name of God, and it hurt somebody.”

Back in 2017, Burrell found herself in hot water when she called members of the LGBTQ+ community “perverted.”

“I love you and God loves you but God hates the sin in you and me,” she said at the time, per Billboard’s report.

Now, seven years later, Burrell has a different tone.

“I want to apologize to the LGBTQ community,” she said. “We want them to have strength and to sincerely know that we must all do the work to embrace all of God’s people. Tonight, I hope this award and this moment can be the beginning of bridge-building and listening to each other as we follow peace with all men and develop the character of God, which requires seeing God.”

Burrell lost endorsements and relationships following her offensive remarks. Ellen DeGeneres, who is gay, even canceled plans to have Burrell as a guest on her talk show. Amid the backlash, Burrell appeared on the We Sound Crazy podcast, where she revealed that someone shot at her.

“I had helicopters flying over my home. I had constables and sheriffs living outside my house for seven days,” she said about the increased security she needed.

So, how is the LGBTQ+ community reaction to Burrell’s apology? Darian Aaron, director of Local News: U.S. South at GLAAD, praised Burrell’s remarks.

“Black LGBTQ people who remain in traditional faith communities are very familiar with the anti-LGBTQ rhetoric Burrell and others have espoused throughout her career,” Aaron wrote in a statement, according to Billboard.

He added, “We are well-versed in the ‘lingo and jargon’ of Black church culture and a gospel music industry that benefits from our gifts but demands us to be silent about our truth. …  Burrell’s speech is evidence of a tipping point where Burrell, the Black church, and the gospel music industry can recognize and accept us all as people of faith and as worthy of Black liberation as anyone else.”

HomophobiaKim BurrellLgbtq