The Gay Community vs Reggae Stars

Buju Banton
Buju Banton is currently in the middle of legal proceedings to account for the brawl of 24 June. Mark Myrie was indeed seen, with around ten armed friends, beating up four gay men after bursting into their home hurling anti-batty-boy insults. Two of them were taken to hospital. Since Boom Bye Bye, Buju Banton has been listed by Amnesty International as a Jamaican dancehall artist whose lyrics incite the murder of gay men and women. The offending passage: "Batty boy get up and run ah gunshot ina head man". In his defence, he replied that seeing his lyrics as homophobic was "a matter of metaphor, of fantasy". Following the brawl, the International League for Human Rights declared: "There is such indifference on the part of the Jamaican police towards homophobic attacks that the case may well be dropped."

On 14 August, Buju Banton took part in the opening concert of the Athens Olympics. His performance very nearly got cancelled, following the mobilisation of the German gay group (LSVD), which alerted the sponsor Puma to the content of certain tracks. Puma immediately adopted a "zero tolerance" policy and declared that if Buju Banton performs a single homophobic track, it will be the end of the sponsorship for him. The same goes for any other artist sponsored by the brand, especially as Puma has just signed a deal with VP Records! His most recent performance of Boom Bye Bye dates from 8 August at a concert in Negril, JA. Perhaps it was the last one (in Puma)?

Banning Buju Banton in Germany
In recent days, Claudia Roth, a member of the German Parliament and representative of the Green Party in the European Parliament, sent a letter to German promoters calling on them to cancel Buju Banton's planned concerts in Germany. The LSVD collective passed a detailed file on the artist to the German public prosecutor, asking for the content of the lyrics to be examined with a view to banning their distribution in Germany. Philipp Braun, spokesman for LSVD, declared: "His career in Germany is over." Buju Banton's concert at the Reggae Jam Festival in Saarbrücken on 3 September had already been cancelled, and we now know that those in Hamburg and Darmstadt are too. The promoters in Chiemsee, Hamm, Bremen and Berlin are weighing their options. At present, in addition to his homophobic assault case in Jamaica, Buju Banton could be prosecuted by the German courts for incitement to murder.

Beenie Man
Gay groups in England, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United States have mobilised against Beenie Man. Outrage!, a British gay group, compiled his lyrics into a file that was immediately passed to the police. Following this, last June, Scotland Yard detained Anthony Davis aka Beenie Man at Heathrow airport for questioning and cancelled his concert in London for "fear of protests from gay groups". The most disputed tracks are Bad Man Chi Chi, Bad Man Nuh Inna Dat, Han Up Deh and Damn. Particularly the passages: "I'm dreaming of a new Jamaica come to execute all the gays" - "Hang chi chi gal wid a long piece of rope (...) Tek a bazooka and kill batty-fucker".

At the end of July, Outrage! launched an anti-Beenie Man appeal to international gay organisations. The affair got out, and Beenie Man was asked for a public apology by Virgin Records. He gave one: "I have realised that some words and recordings I made in the past may have shocked or outraged people whose identities and ways of life differ from mine. My lyrics are personal, I do not write them with the intention of hurting or slandering. I sincerely apologise to those who may have been offended, threatened or hurt by my songs." The next day, his personal manager withdrew the apology, saying that Beenie Man retained his right to criticise the homosexual lifestyle. The American collective Pennsylvania Lesbian and Gay Task Force (PLGTF) rallied to the cause and is stepping up its actions against Beenie Man.

Beenie Man drops 2 tracks from his set
Tension rises and, at his concert in Philadelphia, his manager, besieged, promised gay activists that Beenie Man would not sing any homophobic song. Beenie Man dropped 2 tracks from his set. Actions continue targeting labels, promoters, media and sponsors. Recently, RJ Reynolds (the US tobacco giant) broke its contract with Beenie Man for an American tour of 14 concerts, arguing that "the brand would not tolerate any form of discrimination based on sexual preference." Beenie Man is carrying on his career as best he can and has just released his new album "Back to Basics". On the day of its release, the Metropolitan Police, the Crown Prosecution Service and lawyers met over the matter of Beenie Man's lyrics. The inspector in charge of the investigation declared: "I have no intention of stopping anyone's freedom of expression. At the same time, I would not want the harm done to be wiped away just like that. We will see whether there is a case to answer and, if so, we will take legal action."

The net tightens
The artist is saying very little on the subject as the net tightens around him. The gay group Outrage! has put pressure on Virgin Records and EMI by sending a letter in the form of an ultimatum. They want Virgin to hold a filmed public conference at which Beenie Man would make an explicit apology to the lesbian and gay community for inciting homophobic violence. They demand that Virgin buy back the rights and withdraw all copies of the homophobic songs, or else pay the royalties from these songs to associations helping victims of homophobic attacks. Beenie Man will not return to Philadelphia in October as planned; the PLGTF collective has already had his concert cancelled. Peter Tatchell, leader of the Outrage! group, considers that "musicians like Beenie Man should be limited in the number of public appearances (…) hitting them directly at the source would help make them give up their murderous incitements".

Gay people are fleeing Jamaica
Remember that in France, an "anti-homophobia" law is due to be passed in the coming months. It will amend the 1881 law on press freedom and punish all homophobic remarks and messages. In Jamaica, the situation is stagnating and homophobic feelings seem (as Beenie Man said in an interview last July) to be part of Caribbean culture. Gay people are fleeing Jamaica and going into exile in Canada or the United States. Since the creation of J-Flag (Jamaican Forum for Lesbians, All-sexuals & Gays) in 1998, its members have operated anonymously and the address of the office must remain secret. Last June, it was Amnesty International that asked the Jamaican Prime Minister (PJ Patterson) to publicly condemn homophobic violence and repeal the anti-sodomy law. Mr Patterson replied that he would do nothing to change this law. No wonder Buju Banton, Beenie Man and the others feel within their rights; a solution will have to be found…


Some tracks cited by the gay community:
Buju Banton - Boom Bye Bye
Beenie Man - Damn / Bad Man Chi Chi
TOK - Chi Chi Man
Elephant Man - A Nuh Fi We Fault
Spragga Benz - Wi Nuh Inna Dat
Bounty Killer - Man ah Badman
Capleton - Battyman Fi Get Boom
Congo Natty - Shot a Batty Boy
Admiral T - Batty Boy Dead

Links:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1284571,00.html
http://www.france.qrd.org/actualites/IMG/rtf/Projet_de_loi_homophobie_sexisme.rtf
http://www.sodomylaws.org/world/jamaica/jamaica.htm
http://www.outrage.org.uk/briefing.asp?ID=43