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T.I. Tells TMZ He Stands By Controversial Gay Comments |
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Written by Jonathan Higbee |
Tuesday, 29 November 2011
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| Tags: t.i., controversy, gay, comments, vibe magazine, un-american, free speech, hate, rappers, hip hop, lgbt, rights, homophobia, clarify, reaction, stands by |
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Yesterday the Instinct blog ignited into quite the comment firestorm after news that T.I. believes gays who fight against anti-gay forces are antagonistic to America's values hit the Internet. Following the blogosphere fury, T.I. spoke with TMZ to clarify stand-by his comments. So, how many ways can T.I. dance around a fight for the right to be homophobic?
After defending an anti-gay joke made by Tracy Morgan, T.I. told Vibe Magazine that there are "[gays who] are like, ‘If you have an opinion against us, we’re gonna shut you down.’ That’s not American." The comments were not received well by the LGBT community, as apparent in our Monday blog post covering the news.
In the wake of the interview causing a ruckus online, TMZ got T.I. on the phone to clarify his comments. Said the rapper:
"I was quoted correctly, but I was taken out of context...I'm not saying that being gay is being un-American. What I was saying was to use whatever power or authority you have to shut people down because they don't agree with you that's not what America was built upon. The institution allows us, it affords us the right, to speak out peacefully and respectfully in opposition of any point or any topic that comes up...I'm not against gay marriage...but for the people who may have an opinion against it, then for the corporations to throw their weight around to shut them down, that's not fair.
"It's about people who take themselves too seriously, any group. It's not just about gays, I think that African Americans groups sometimes take things a tad too seriously too...If you use the "n" word like Don Imus and say something that's completely derogatory and disrespectful, that's understandable. But if you just have an opinion on something that just happens to be related to the African American culture and it's in opposition, then they have no right to shut you down either."
So T.I. totally didn't mean to call you guys un-American; he just thinks that your decision to raise your voice or actively fight against anti-gay oppression goes against America's values. Totally acceptable. Feel better now?
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I support TI 100%, we need to stop being so damn defensive about every comment made. Everyone has a right to their opinion no matter how wrong I feel it is.