A homosexual activism group has called on presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) to disassociate himself from a gospel singer who believes homosexual behavior is a choice and not a biological compulsion.

Donnie McClurkin, who is scheduled to be among a group of gospel singers raising money for Obama at a concert in South Carolina this weekend, has drawn homosexual activists’ ire by saying, "Sexuality, everything is a matter of choice," as quoted by AP.

The AP story quotes McClurkin as saying he disapproves of discrimination against homosexuals: "What people do in their bedrooms and who they are as human beings are two different things," he said. That is not a sufficient concession for the activists, however, and they have called for Obama to kick him out.

The controversy puts Obama in a highly uncomfortable situation, as he has already taken some fire from homosexual activists for supporting proposed government policies to endorse civil unions of homosexual couples, instead of the activists’ preferred proposal for having the government force all of society to acknowledge homosexual "marriages."

McClurkin is far from ignorant about the subject, the AP story notes:

McClurkin is a Grammy Award winner who performed at the Republican National Convention in 2004. He told AP Radio in an interview that September that he was "once involved with those desires and those thoughts," which he attributed to being raped at 8 and 13.

"That’s what thrust me into it, and then God delivered me from that and gave me back who I really am and my true purpose," McClurkin said.

Obama has not said whether he will dump McClurkin, but he did repudiate the singer’s views and issued a pro forma support of homosexuality:

"I have consistently spoken directly to African-American religious leaders about the need to overcome the homophobia that persists in some parts our community so that we can confront issues like HIV/AIDS and broaden the reach of equal rights in this country," Obama said. "I strongly believe that African Americans and the LGBT community must stand together in the fight for equal rights. And so I strongly disagree with Reverend McClurkin’s views and will continue to fight for these rights as president of the United States to ensure that America is a country that spreads tolerance instead of division.

This is the political party that characterizes itself as liberal and tolerant.