Teino Evans, Staff Reporter

Buju Banton

Once again sections of the homosexual community have struck, delivering yet another round of blows to reggae and dancehall music with cancellations of Buju Banton concerts in the United States. However, this time around supporters and well-wishers have stood their ground and are protesting against the gay community.

Rude Gal of Rude Gal Entertainment, the management company for Mr. Easy and Chico, says she thinks the homosexual community is targeting reggae and dancehall music, using it as a scapegoat for pushing their own agenda.

"They (the gay community) are always going to try and make their voices heard and unfortunately they have chosen reggae music to do that and to further their own agenda. I believe that the homosexual community wants more than just tolerance. In California schools right now, for example, they are trying to pass laws that when teaching sex education in public schools, typically before we were taught about man and woman, how pregnancy occurs and about sexually transmitted diseases now they are saying that there is female to female sex and male to male and that everything is okay." But Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is adamant that these laws not be passed," she said.

According to Rude Gal, the artistes will sooner or later be forced to defend their very livelihood, as cutting dub plates and releasing albums and singles alone can't cut it.

LIVE PERFORMANCES

"The artistes earn the bulk of their money from live performances and if you have a group of people fighting that and successfully cancel like a Buju show, a Beenie or Capleton show, then where is it going to stop? The way I see it is that it affects the livelihood of an artiste; it is being interfered with by a certain group of people. The artistes are not attacking anyone who are gay and lesbian, they are not giving people guns and saying go kill them. The only thing that artistes can do is stand up for their own rights and probably rethink the type of lyrics they use, but I am not saying that they should deny themselves the freedom of speech," she said.

Rude Gal added that, "It's something that we have to stand up against. The sad reality is that people tend to be moved to respond when it's something negative. No one is interfering with someone who is gay or lesbian's livelihood."

In July of this year gay rights activists accused Beenie Man and TOK of murder, saying that their homophobic lyrics had resulted in the deaths of gays. This was used as leverage to have shows where they were billed to appear in New York and England cancelled.

Clyde McKenzie, director of Shocking Vibes Limited, Beenie Man's management company, told The Sunday Gleaner in an interview at that time that things had got quite ridiculous.

"I think that this is maybe carrying it a bit far, because there is no established link between their lyrics and anybody being killed. I would need for them to provide irrefutable evidence and how would they link any song to such actions? That is far-fetched. I think there are some serious issues at play here. And shutting these shows down by their lobbying, I think it is ridiculous. It's one thing to demonstrate, protest if you want, but when you start now to prevent people from accessing my services or associating with fans and patrons, I think that is a serious offence and a breach of people's rights," McKenzie said.

PUT UP RESISTANCE

Months later, the support for reggae and dancehall music has been strong and dozens of e-mail messages have been circulating, the writers seeking to put up resistance to gay rights activists.

One e-mail attributed to a Tasha C.S. Rodney, attorney-at-law, was written to one of the managers of a club who had been instructed not to host any shows on which Buju Banton would appear. It read in part:

"Dear Club Manager or Promoter. As an avid fan of reggae music, I am writing to request that you disregard the unwarranted protests of Buju Banton and allow his concerts as scheduled. The segment of the homosexual community who are leading these protests are simply mistaken about Buju Banton. It is not true that Buju Banton has a long history of homophobia and inciting anti-gay violence. These allegations are unfounded and based on a misunderstanding of Jamaican culture and Buju Banton's lyrics. Jamaican society is largely Christian and Rastafarian. Due to their religious beliefs most Jamaicans, like most people of non-western cultures, strongly disagree with homosexuality, but they do not react violently towards gays. Many dancehall artists, like most Jamaicans, think that homosexuality is wrong. However they do not advocate for the actual killing of homosexuals, nor do they incite violence against them. These accusations are based on a misinterpretation of dancehall lyrics and are not based on the facts."

Another concerned female reggae fan wrote:

"Friends, segments of the homosexual community have launched an attack against Buju Banton and Beenie Man. If we do not respond to this, we will only be able to attend real reggae concerts in Jamaica."

She attached a list of the promoters and club managers who have come under pressure, followed by a link of one of the websites that was being run by people leading the attack, as well as a sample of the letter that they were sending out. "Please respond and tell your friends," she urged.