Think before you leap
published: Sunday | October 3, 2004

THE EDITOR, Sir:

I CAN'T imagine that someone really is harbouring an intention to kill Peter Tatchell of OutRage! because he has taken a stand against the 'murder music' of some Jamaican dancehall performers. But, bearing in mind that cruel lunacy is given frequent expression in our world, here is some information for anyone who might be contemplating such a crime:

First, Peter Tatchell is not operating alone but in concert with a of legion activists who are working against the discrimination and tyranny motivated by homophobia. For instance, had it not been for the quiet but determined efforts of Jamaican activists within Jamaica and without, notably in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, the campaign against this toxic music would not yet have achieved the global prominence and efficacy we now see.

Second, if some people were so foolish as to do harm to Peter Tatchell because he speaks out against homophobic tyranny, those persons assuredly would deal a terrible blow to the cause they suppose they are serving. The advertised purveyors of murder music would find immediately that they had no more meaningful commercial viability outside of Jamaica. And those in the wider community of Jamaican dancehall performers also would find themselves cast into a dry season of punishing endurance; they, too, would have been tainted with the blood of Peter Tatchell.

I am, etc.,

GILBERT DUNKLEY

jembe@bellsouth.net

3301 NE 5th AvenueUnit 201

Miami, Florida