La’Porsha Renae failed to win the final season of American Idol, finishing second to Trent Harmon in a controversial vote last Thursday night.
But the talented 22-year old has gone ahead and created controversy of her own away from the Fox stage.
A native of Mississippi, Renae was recently asked by reporters for her take on her home state’s House Bill 1523, which permits people with faith-based objections to deny wedding services to same-sex couples.
Signed into law this month by Governor Phil Bryant, it also makes it legal for employers to cite religious beliefs when deciding on workplace policies such as dress code and restroom access.
“Although all of us may not agree with that particular lifestyle for religious reasons, whatever the reason is, you still treat each other with respect,” Renae told journalists on a conference call.
“Everybody is a human being. We should be able to coexist with one another.”
La’Porsha added that she plans on residing outside the state with her daughter, but then went on say the following:
“I am one of the people who don’t really agree with that lifestyle. I wasn’t brought up that way. It wasn’t how I was raised.”
Yes, the artist mentioned how she has “a lot of friends and a lot of people that I love dearly who are gay and homosexual and they’re such sweet, nice people,” concluding:
“We should just respect each other’s differences and opinions and move on.”
Yes, we should. But it’s hard to say you are showing “respect” for a lifestyle when you are saying you disagree with it.
On Periscope this past Sunday, Renae reacted to the backlash caused by her comments by saying:
“I can understand when I read it back why people were offended and for that I deeply apologize because I wasn’t trying to offend anyone by what I said, I was just trying to honestly answer a question that actually caught me off-guard.
“It was supposed to be an interview about singing, and it became political and I’m not a political person, at all.”