T.I. raised the heat when he released his new ‘Pyro’ single earlier this week but now he has sparked a different kind of fire. The rapper was featured on the cover of VIBE’s December/January Year-End issue and as part of the accompanying interview he addressed the highly controversial topic of gay rights.
Although T.I. made it clear that he does not discriminate against anybody for their sexual orientation, he did suggest that some gay people are overly sensitive. In fact, he claimed that while gay people should have the right to be gay then other people should have the right to be against it.
Read exactly what T.I. had to say about the issue in VIBE below:
“Man, I will say this, the funniest joke I ever heard Tracy say during a stand-up was, ‘C’mon man, I think gay people are too sensitive. If you can take a dick, you can take a joke. [Cracks up laughing.] That shit was funny to me. And it’s kind of true.”
While T.I. makes clear that he supports anyone’s sexual preference, he then connects, in his opinion, a current oversensitivity among gay people with a consequential and ironic offense of the First Amendment.
“They’re like,‘If you have an opinion against us, we’re gonna shut you down.’ That’s not American. If you’re gay you should have the right to be gay in peace, and if you’re against it you should have the right to be against it in peace.”
Read more on VIBE.
Several people will likely be upset by T.I’s remarks but he did indeed raise a viable point. Everybody deserves the right to express their views. However, how those perspectives are shared is what causes problems. Still, it is great to hear T.I. and Game, who talked about gay men in Hip-Hop earlier this year, voicing their opinions on gay culture because these discussions will only help the industry to progress.