UMES福音演唱会抗议视频疯传：学生台上斥歌手B. Slade被关麦，校方道歉后信仰与包容之争未止
位于马里兰州萨默塞特县 Princess Anne 的马里兰大学东海岸分校（University of Maryland Eastern Shore，UMES）11月1日举行返校节福音演唱会，担任学生司仪的研究生 Nkemjika Ikemefuna 在歌手 B. Slade 演出后登台抗议，发言中途麦克风被关掉，手机视频随后在社交平台疯传。校方已向演出者与观众道歉，Delmarva 公共媒体11月9日刊出对多名当事学生的回访，这场围绕信仰与包容的争论仍在校园内外延续。
当晚的演出阵容包括 Tye Tribbett、B. Slade 与 Preston Jonzell。B. Slade 是获格莱美提名的福音歌手，也是公开出柜的歌手。他在台上说，自己戴着 bussdown 也能赞美上帝，bussdown 在非裔社区俚语中指长而顺滑的发型。Ikemefuna 是校内信仰团体 Hawk Ministry 的活跃成员，她在疯传视频中说：「如果你们自称基督徒，却认可那个男人戴着假发上台，说戴着 bussdown 也能赞美耶稣。」她还表示，B. Slade 所呈现的基督教不是圣经所说的，与上帝的话相违背。
Ikemefuna 的麦克风随后被关掉。UMES 在声明中说，11月1日，一名担任学生司仪的研究生发表了可能被视为贬损 LGBTQIA+ 群体的言论，校方不容忍任何形式的仇恨言论，并向 Tye Tribbett、B. Slade 与 Preston Jonzell 三位演出者及全体观众道歉，尊重与包容是 UMES 社群的重要价值。校方称，事件正在审查中，将采取适当行动，并公布了受影响学生可联系的咨询服务电话。据 Delmarva 公共媒体报道，被问到在学校主办的活动中关掉学生麦克风的规程时，校方拒绝置评。
Ikemefuna 在11月9日刊出的回访中说，她当时觉得有人有责任站出来说点什么，Hawk Ministry 内部讨论过要说什么、怎么说，但她具体所说的话出于她个人的信念。她表示，自己的基督教信仰与同性恋及某些 LGBTQ+ 表达方式不相容，并把麦克风被关理解为自己因表达宗教信仰而被阻止发言。谈到随后登台的 Tribbett 对她的回应，她说，她感谢对方肯定她的勇气，而在她看来，表达方式不应成为讨论的重点，重点应是她所说的是否为真理。
紧接着登台的福音歌手 Tye Tribbett 在现场说：「方式很重要。如果你爱一个人，你怎么向他表达，方式会显出来。」他随后在电台节目 The Morning Hustle 中说，他钦佩这位年轻女性的大胆、勇气以及为她自认正义之事所持的立场，并引用圣经的话说，挽回灵魂的人有智慧。他还说，每一项罪的背后都是一个灵魂，是一个可能受过伤害、可能因痛苦而行事的真实的人。
另一名 UMES 学生 Caron Littaker 是践行信仰的基督徒，也是 LGBTQ+ 群体的一员。他在 TikTok 上发视频表达看法，原视频播放量超过1.5万次，并被转发到其他社交平台。他说，作为一名同性恋基督徒，他觉得 Ikemefuna 在福音演唱会上说的话令人反感。他说，人们可能正经历自杀的念头，你永远不知道一个人年轻时经历过什么、是什么让他走到今天这一步。
据 Delmarva 公共媒体报道，一些受访者认为，这起事件也提供了一个机会，去认真讨论非裔教会群体与 LGBTQ+ 群体之间复杂的关系，至于双方是否已经准备好进行这场对话，则是另一个问题。截至11月9日，校方尚未公布对这起事件的审查结果。
UMES Gospel Concert Protest Video Goes Viral: Student Rebukes B. Slade and Her Mic Is Cut, Faith-and-Inclusion Debate Follows University Apology
At the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) in Princess Anne, in Somerset County, Maryland, a homecoming gospel concert on November 1 ended in a viral confrontation: Nkemjika Ikemefuna, a graduate student serving as a student emcee, took the stage after singer B. Slade performed to protest his appearance, and her microphone was cut off mid-speech. Phone video of the moment spread quickly on social media. The university has apologized to the performers and attendees, and Delmarva Public Media published follow-up interviews with several students involved on November 9, as the debate over faith and inclusion continued on and beyond the campus.
The concert lineup that night featured Tye Tribbett, B. Slade and Preston Jonzell. B. Slade is a Grammy-nominated gospel artist and an openly gay singer. On stage, he said he could praise God in a bussdown, a slang term in the African American community for a long, sleek hairstyle. Ikemefuna, an active member of the faith-based Hawk Ministry on campus, said in the viral video: "So if you guys call yourselves Christian, and you approve of that man coming on stage wearing a wig, saying you can praise Jesus in a bussdown." She also said that what B. Slade was portraying as Christianity is not what the Bible says and goes against the word of God.
Ikemefuna's microphone was then cut off. In its statement, UMES said that on November 1 a graduate student serving as a student emcee made comments that may be perceived as derogatory to the LGBTQIA+ community, that the university does not condone hate speech of any kind, and that it apologized to performers Tye Tribbett, B. Slade and Preston Jonzell as well as to event attendees, adding that respect and inclusivity are important values to the UMES community. The university said the situation was being reviewed and that appropriate actions would be taken, and it published a counseling services number for students affected. According to Delmarva Public Media, when asked about the protocol for cutting off a student's microphone during a university-sponsored event, the university declined to comment.
In the follow-up interview published on November 9, Ikemefuna said she had felt it was someone's responsibility to go up and say something about what was happening. She said Hawk Ministry members had discussed what to say and how to say it, but that exactly what she said was her own personal conviction. She said her Christian beliefs are incompatible with homosexuality and certain forms of LGBTQ+ expression, and that she interpreted the microphone cutoff as being prevented from speaking her religious beliefs. Responding to Tribbett's remarks about her, she said she appreciated his acknowledgement of her courage, and that in her view delivery should not be the main topic of discussion; the main topic should be whether what she said was truth.
Gospel singer Tye Tribbett, who took the stage right after the incident, told the audience: "Ways matter. And if you love a person, how you address it will come out in the ways." He later spoke about the incident on the radio show The Morning Hustle, saying he admired the young woman's boldness, courage and stance for what she believes is righteousness and holy, and quoting the Bible that he that wins souls is wise. He also said that underneath a sin is a soul, a real person who may have been hurt and may have acted out of pain.
Another UMES student, Caron Littaker, is a practicing Christian and a member of the LGBTQ+ community. He posted his views on TikTok, where his original video has garnered more than 15,000 views and has been shared across other social media platforms. He said that, as a Christian who is gay, he found what Ikemefuna said at the gospel concert disgusting. He said people could be going through suicidal thoughts, and that you never know what somebody went through when they were younger to make them come out this way or do anything.
According to Delmarva Public Media, some people it spoke with said the incident creates an opportunity for a real conversation exploring the complex relationship between the Black church community and the LGBTQ+ community, while whether the two communities are ready for that conversation is another story. As of November 9, the university had not announced the outcome of its review of the incident.
来源：Delmarva公共媒体
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：马里兰大学东海岸分校学生服务中心资料图（Honors Lane摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经Wikimedia Commons；非演唱会现场图）
GSM Global · 本篇英文版 English edition of this story
