Gun-toting Atlanta rapper T.I., done with his stint at a halfway house, apparently now has time to take aim at the gays, saying they are “too sensitive” and that “if you can take a dick, you can take a joke.”
T.I. also supported anti-gay discrimination, saying that “if you’re against [homosexuality] you should have the right to be against it in peace.”
T.I., born Clifford Harris, made the inflammatory comments to Vibe, which doesn’t help elevate the conversation with the artist when it uses the pejorative phrase “sexual preference.” The comments come as the magazine released excerpts from its Dec. 6 issue, which T.I. covers.
T.I. was discussing equality when he backed Tracy Morgan, the “Saturday Night Live” comedian who in June disparaged LGBT people by saying “gay is a choice,” that homosexuality is “something kids learn from the media and programming,” and that “he would pull out a knife and stab” his son to death if he came out as gay.
T.I. said he found Morgan’s joke funny and that LGBT people over-reacted when the criticized Morgan, who later apologized and went on an apology tour.
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.’
T.I. was released from a halfway house in September after a year in prison for his arrest on drug charges in Los Angeles in September 2010. He received an 11-month sentence for violating terms of a supervised release after federal firearms charges stemming from an arrest in Midtown.
