Homosexuality Is Like An Ice Cream Flavor

Jim Burroway

August 11th, 2011

Either that, or it’s like riding a scooter:

Vanillaphobe

Rep. Allen West (R-FL): You cannot compare me and my race to a behavior. Sexuality is a behavior. And so yeah, I say it: I cannot change my color. People can change their sexual behavior. And I’ve seen people do that. You know, I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, so I’ve seen a very different perspective on human behaviors. So that’s where I’m coming from with that. Now everyone has the same basic rights. No one is telling people in the gay community that they don’t the same basic rights that any American has.

Q: You say people can change their behavior. Do you think gay people should change their behavior?

West: Oh, Tony, come on, no. I don’t think that. I mean, I like chocolate chip ice cream, and I will continue to like chocolate chip ice cream. So there’s no worry about me changing to vanilla. I like to, you know, I like to ride my motorcycle. What do you want me to do? You want me to change my behavior and ride a scooter? I’m not into that.

Yeah, more crappy metaphors, and reaching for ice cream flavors puts him dangerously close to becoming a political Forrest Gump. But at least I can find two silver linings here: 1) West doesn’t think gay people should change, and 2) he finds homosexuality to be kinda vanilla. Both opinions put him at odds with several other fellow party-members. But on the other hand, he also can’t seem to understand that marriage is “the same basic right” that he enjoys. Talk about your oxymorons.

Update: West took some flack for comparing homosexuality to ice cream flavors and hit back by saying that vanilla ice cream should be banned form the military. Or something like that:

I think that what I said is that is behavior, and so what I talked about is, look, I prefer or I like chocolate chip ice cream, and I’m not going against what someone prefers or has as their behavioral preference in their life. But when you start to understand about the United States military, the United States military serves one mission — that’s to fight and win our nation’s wars. And if we start to take the military and try to conform it to individual behaviors, no matter what those individual behaviors are, we’re going to lose the essence of what the United States military is.

David in Houston

August 11th, 2011

I guess the real question is, COULD Allen choose vanilla if he wants to? If so, that makes him bisexual… not an ice cream lover. I’d actually like to challenge him to “choose vanilla” for one day, then he can go back to “chocolate chip”. Since sexuality is a choice, it shouldn’t be a problem for him, right?

Ian

August 11th, 2011

And Allen can change the colour of his skin, if he haven’t heard of this person called Michael Jackson, that only meant that he haven’t been on Earth for the past few decades.

And those that are against marriage equality are like people who say “you can only eat chocolate chip ice-cream, even if you only like vanilla. Take it or leave it.”
right… only chocolate chip ice-cream lovers get to eat the ice-cream that they love, so much for basic rights.

homer

August 11th, 2011

Seems like West is an expert on Tutti-Frutti.

Leo

August 11th, 2011

Allan and Santorum should form a debate team. Comedy Central could build a show around it.

TampaZeke

August 11th, 2011

And NAPKINS Jim. Don’t forget about keeping napkins out of the military! Or is it paper towels that need to be kept away from our fighting men and women. Oh hell, it’s just getting so confusing as to what’s what, what’s LIKE what, what’s acceptable and what’s not. Napkins/paper towels; water/beer; vanilla ice cream/chocolate chip ice cream? Who can keep up these days?

jpeckjr

August 11th, 2011

And what did we learn about Allen West from this interview? We already knew he didn’t like gay people.

Now we know he’s not into vanilla.

james

August 11th, 2011

@TampaZeke: Well, the potluck is coming together. Ricky’s bringing the napkins and water. Allen’s bringing the ice cream. I’ll bring the weiners and buns. What can I put you down for?

jim in ca

August 11th, 2011

We have a great ice cream shop in my town. If Mr. West would like, I can arrange for a “conversion therapy” session there. I’m sure if he tried their peppermint, he’d be a changed man! Their cherry vanilla is my personal favorite, but I imagine Mr. West wouldn’t be comfortable eating someone else’s cherry.

Timothy Kincaid

August 11th, 2011

I just wish Rep. West didn’t act so black. I recognize that his black behaviors are his life preference, but when it comes to things like voting and eating at lunch-counters, if we start catering to behaviors then we will lose the essence of what society is.

I get up every morning gay, but West’s behavior can change. I’ve seen other black people who changed to white behavior.

He’s free to like whatever ice cream he has, and he has the same right to act white as anyone. I support equality for people, just not for behavior like West’s black behavior.

TampaZeke

August 11th, 2011

Timothy, something tells me that West would be OUTRAGED if anyone accused him of participating in ANY kind of black behavior.

Timothy Kincaid

August 11th, 2011

Ya think?

;)

Although it would be horribly offensive and vile, it would be interesting to see one of the black anti-gays be put in a position of having to defend linguistic differences against someone using it as a basis of discrimination:

You cannot compare me and my orientation to a behavior. Black talk is a behavior. And so yeah, I say it: I cannot change my orientation. People can change the way they talk. And I’ve seen people do that.

It’s a much closer comparison and just might hit home with people who absolutely HAVE been the subject of discrimination based solely on vocal patterns and culturally based cadence.

Sir Andrew

August 11th, 2011

What a flaming idiot. Sexuality is not a behaviour; SEX is a behaviour.

I would be more upset at this commentary were this not coming from a man who thinks he has a higher security clearance than the president, among his many ludicrous claims. He is an embarrassment to his race–by which I mean the HUMAN race. I think those living in his Florida district should write a letter of apology to every single person in the United States.

Regan DuCasse

August 11th, 2011

All I do is shoot to them that it’s a FACT that we’re not comparing ATTRIBUTES here, we are paralleling GROSS INJUSTICES against a minority whose attribute doesn’t cause moral or societal harm. Who don’t deserve to be threatened, isolated and maligned because of that attribute.

Every black person I posit that to, has a hard time coming back with anything intelligent to say.
And from there, the injustices can easily be listed.

The only reason why anyone keeps doing this is an indirect way of saying black people never deserved being treated the way they did, but gay people do.

Ask them why, and they begin to list the same injustices we’re talking about.
It’s quite amazing to see that such people seem to be too stupid to have figured it out.

Trust me when I tell you that homophobic black folks don’t like one of their own showing them up that way.
They aren’t listening to US, their echo chamber is fooling them into thinking their agenda is OURS.

But YOU, my friends, ARE smart enough to know the difference in that too.

Priya Lynn

August 11th, 2011

Regan, your efforts are greatly appreciated.

Shofixti

August 11th, 2011

Isn’t learning language a behaviour?
Isn’t talking about race a behaviour?
Isn’t researching, writing or reading books or teaching knowledge about race a behaviour?

I don’t see how anyone can come to a point where they are capable of engaging in debates about the topic of race that isn’t entirely contingent on a multitude of antecedent behaviours.

His distinctions melt like ice cream.

Laura

August 12th, 2011

It sounds like he is taking public speaking tips from Sarah Palin.

Regan DuCasse

August 12th, 2011

Hi Ian!

Michael Jackson didn’t have his color changed. He suffered from an auto immune skin disorder called vitiligo. A lot of people have it, but it would be most noticeable on the dark skinned. Around the time he was in his twenties is when he was wearing heavy make up. I suspect he was in between and had his condition been revealed at the time, it might have had the pattern of a cow.
I have it myself, but it’s been localized to a quarter sized discoloration on my chin.

However, MJ still had some serious gender and race identity issues. There was no reason for him not to sport a fade haircut, or keep his nose naturally wide as it was. He had his racial features altered, for sure.

There IS no procedure to lighten skin to that degree. It’s impossible, in fact. If it were, don’t you think a lot more black people with money would do so?
There is a well known baseball player from the DR who is getting lighter too for the same reason. And he’s decided to go with it and wear lighter colored contact lenses and so on. It’s weird looking actually.

Anyway, blacks can’t undergo a “Watermelon Man” transformation.

So their assertions of not being able to change color is true.
Changing BEHAVIOR, yeah…one can do that. But WHICH behaviors should change is the question.

The behavior where a person is attracted to another gay person of their same gender?

Or the behavior that’s prejudiced and causes untold pain and lost potential in society because of intractable bigotry?
West could possibly change from being such an ignorant asshole. But nothing and no one has to make him. That’s the problem.

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