Broadway diva Kristin Chenoweth says
she's a Christian who does not believe being gay is a sin.
The 43-year-old Tony and Emmy-winning
Chenoweth is best known for playing Glinda in the Broadway production
of Wicked. She also plays the recurring role of April Rhodes
on the Fox musical-comedy Glee.
In the fall, she'll play Carlene
Cockburn on the ABC dramedy Good Christian Bitches.
(Related: Mark
Deklin to play gay in Good Christian Bitches.)
Chenoweth made her comments during an
interview with gay
glossy The Advocate.
When asked if she felt that Christians
get a bad rap, Chenoweth answered: “Yeah, I think we do it to
ourselves. But I also think there are a lot of Christians who
believe like me. My family is very much like me. But I did group up
in the Bible belt – and you know what comes with that. My Grandma
Chenoweth told me something when I was growing up. My [gay] best
friend – I've talked about him many times, his name's Denny. I
asked my Grandma Chenoweth, 'How can it be that he's going to hell?
I just don't think that's correct.' And she said, “Well Kris, I
read the Bible like I eat fish: I take the meat, and it serves me
well, but I don't choke on the bone.'”
“And I think she was onto something,”
she added. “I read my Bible and I pray and all of that – really
do. But at the same time, I don't think being gay is a sin.
Period.”
Chenoweth's fourth studio album Some
Lessons Learned arrives next Tuesday.