Snoop Lion (who inexplicably has changed his rap moniker from Snoop Dogg) had some words on whether or not the rap genre would ever welcome openly gay artists in the industry. And quite honestly, the message is confusing. Here’s more:

The artist formerly known as Snoop Dogg tells NME he doesn’t think homosexuality will ever be fully acceptable in rap music.

The newly-christened Snoop Lion, who previously spoke out in support of same-sex marriage in an interview with HuffPost Entertainment, tells the publication that the “masculine” aspects of hip-hop music create unique challenges for gay musicians.

“It’s like a football team,” he said. “You can’t be in a locker room full of motherf**king tough a** dudes, then all of a sudden say, ‘Hey, man, I like you.’ You know, that’s going to be tough.”

Of Frank Ocean, the Grammy-winning hip-hop artist who came out in a blog last year, the rapper noted, “He’s a singer. It’s acceptable in the singing world, but in the rap world I don’t know if it will ever be acceptable because rap is so masculine.” Still, Snoop’s personal take on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community is far more open-minded: “I don’t have a problem with gay people. I got some gay homies.”

I don’t think what Snoop is saying that he himself doesn’t welcome gays in rap but feels they would not be accepted in the community. He does make the connection of how the LGBT community has been treated and related it to oppression and discrimination the African American community has faced. He has in the past given support for same sex marriage.. But something is gnawing at me about this interview.

Here’s where I have the issue; it’s not that I think that Snoop is homophobic so much as I think he just does not get that being gay does not mean we are sex crazed deviants always on the prowl for our next sexual conquest. The analogy of having gays in rap would be as problematic as an openly gay football player proves that he does not know gay men and women as much as he believes. Because if he truly had people in his life that are openly gay he would know that they are not constantly inspecting every crotch they see with an unstoppable urge to flirt with any and every man they see.

It shows that Snoop as well as many of his rap colleagues only know a stereotype rather than a person. It’s a job, not a social dating app so conduct is going to be evaluated. Do you think players would be allowed to say that to any women that work for the team like publicists, managers, physical therapists? The player would without question be suspended fr harassment so what makes it different for the gay men?

i will give him points as this doesn’t feel like it was done out of malice and hatred towards gays. But honestly how masculine can rap be when it is so easy for them to do collaborations with Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus who are the personification of sugar pop feminine girl power! songs that are heavily bought by gay men? That is a contradiction in and of itself and a sign that the rap genre is still ignoring a potential fanbase that has money to spend making them richer and more relevant in mainstream music.

Snoop, at best in the rap genre and society as a whole, masculinity is subjective so please get to know some of the gay friends you say are already in your circle. Because if you truly knew them , you’d see that they are people and not these ignorant stereotypes you seem to be holding onto.