LGBT POV

Tired of the fights over President Obama, the National Equality March and the Human Rights campaign?

Let off some steam 8:30 TONIGHT at the Cabana Club in Hollywood (1439 Ivar Ave., just south of Sunset) to protest Buju Banton – the Jamaican reggae singer who makes money by espousing the murder and maiming of gays.

Oh, he hasn’t sung that nasty antigay song lately, his handlers say! Not true, says the LA Gay & Lesbian, which says Banton sang “Boom Bye Bye” – his most famous murder gays song – at least three years ago, that they know of.  “Boom, Bye Bye” hails that “faggots get up and run” when he comes, that “they have to die,” and that he will shoot them in the head or “burn them up bad.”

And oh, yeah – it’s still released for sale. No apologies. No regrets. Murder gays for sale – to a dance hall tune!  Is this kind of murderous dance music – art? Or is it just catchy hate speech designed to inspire others to act?

So how did Buju Banton wind up in Hollywood playing a gig that had been previously been cancelled at the request of the LA Gay & Lesbian Center?

Well – you’ve heard the phrase “the road to hell is paved with good intentions?” We’re kicking down that road right now and it ain’t painted yellow brick.

Here’s what happened.

As I explained last Monday, a handful of gays – including San Francisco Supervisor Bevan Dufty, EQCA’s Andrea Shorter and blogger Michael Petrelis – met with Buju Banton and came away with a photo op – nothing more.

And now that photo op, glowing press from the SF Weekly, and a few quotes from Dufty and Petrelis about how this was a “good first step” are being used by Banton’s PR team to put a crack in the wall of what up to this point has been a successful boycott with promoters cancelling concerts.  That pictures made newspapers, TV stations and blogs from South Miami to Jamaica.

The hard-working and highly regarded LGBT activist Peter Tatchell chimed in from London with an email to Shorter and Petrelis:

Hi Andrea and Michael,

Thanks for your efforts.

I don’t doubt the good intentions of the LGBT activists who attended the meeting with Buju Banton in San Francisco, but they appear to have come away with nothing from Banton. Not even promises.

I was shocked to read this SF Weekly article:

http://blogs.sfweekly.com/shookdown/2009/10/exclusive_buju_banton_sits_dow.php

Despite their reported failure to secure anything from Banton, LGBT activists agreed to allow his concert at the Rock It Room to go ahead.

If true, I am stunned that Banton’s demand for a concert was conceded in exchange for nothing tangible from him.

Contrary to his claims, Banton has part performed Boom Bye Bye in recent years and he profits from continuing sales of this song. He still makes money from urging the killing of faggots. Did no one make this point to him?

This meeting is a big propaganda victory for Banton. He can now use it to show that he has dialogue with the LGBT community. It will be ruthlessly exploited by his management to undermine the LGBT campaign and the concert cancellations.

He has used these PR and divide-and-rule tactics before – and LGBT Jamaicans were the losers.

This is not what LGBT Jamaicans in Jamaica and London wanted.

I am shocked that no one seem to have asked Banton to sign the Reggae Compassionate Act (RCA copy attached). This was the least that he should have been asked to do.

Just look at Banton’s record of lies and broken promises. See my briefing here:

http://www.petertatchell.net/popmusic/buju-bantons-violations-of-the-reggae-compassionate-act.html

The SF Weekly article is very bad for our campaign – and very good for Banton. It makes him look reasonable and conciliatory.

Contrary to what the article says, this campaign not about Banton’s homophobia. It is about his incitements to murder LGBTs, which is a criminal offence in Jamaica and the US. No one should concede an inch to people who incite the murder of other human beings – and who refuse to apologise.

I urge you to issue a news statement making at least some of these points, and urging concrete action from Banton to show that he has changed, like him apologising to the LGBT communities (especially in Jamaica) and signing the RCA in public in front of you and the SF media (so he can’t deny doing so in future).

Thank you for considering this representation.

Yours in solidarity!

Peter Tatchell, OutRage! London, international coordinator, Stop Murder Music Campaign

Well, Dufty did issue a statement – kind of. He sent it to the Center and I had to ask for it. He didn’t return my call to his cell phone, nor does it seem he’s released this to the press. Here’s what Dufty said:

Update following meeting with Buju Banton

I unequivocally endorse the continuing boycott of Buju Banton and his music and concert tour. Prior to meeting with Buju Banton on October 12th, I was directly involved in the cancellation of two earlier shows booked in San Francisco. Until such time as Mr. Banton takes action to publicly separate himself from the music and actions that encourage violence against LGBT individuals, I and the others who met with Mr. Banton will continue to support the boycott and efforts to cancel his shows.

Several months ago, I joined with community activists Michael Petrelis, Gary Virginia and Veronika Cauley in launching a boycott of Jamaican products including Myer’s Rum, Red Stripe Beer and Jamaican tourism unless their government takes action to end the assaults and killing of LGBT Jamaicans. It is believed that more than 200 LGBT Jamaicans have been beaten or killed over the past few years.

Less than a week ago, I learned that another Buju Banton performance had been scheduled for Monday, October 12th at the Rock-It Lounge in San Francisco. When I spoke to the Rock-It Lounge, they asked if I would be willing to meet with Mr. Banton. I agreed to open a dialogue to share the concerns of the LGBT community regarding his lyrics and actions and to explore steps he could take to address the harm that he has created.

Due to travel schedules it was difficult to confirm a meeting with Mr. Banton and his representatives. Early on the afternoon of the 12th, we finally agreed on a meeting location and with almost no notice I was able to secure the involvement of blogger and activist Michael Petrelis, African American LGBT and marriage equality leader Andrea Shorter and LGBT Center director Rebecca Rolfe and my colleague Supervisor Eric Mar who represents the District where the club is located.

Even with holding a meeting, I fully support the picket that took place on the evening of the 12th protesting Mr. Banton’s performance at the Rock-It Lounge.

We met for an hour with Mr. Banton. During the meeting we made specific requests for Mr. Banton to take actions that would disassociate him from the legacy of “Boom, Bye Bye” and use his prominence as a Jamaican reggae artist to speak out against the hate and violence directed against LGBT Jamaicans.

Mr. Banton spoke about his history with this song and his belief that his music no longer promotes anti-gay violence. He represented to us that he does not perform “Boom, Bye Bye”, a song that glorifies the murder of gay people, and does not receive any royalties or income from the song.

Mr. Banton agreed to consider and respond to our suggestion that direct, public action is required if his relationship with the LGBT community is to change or improve, but he offered no apology for having fostered Jamaica’s anti-gay culture, a culture that has resulted in the murder of prominent LGBT activists. We agreed to put these ideas in writing.

Until and unless Mr. Banton takes meaningful action, I and those who joined me for this meeting support continuation of the boycott which has resulted in the cancellation of 16 of his original tour dates – and continues to result in cancellations. For me, the risks in meeting with Mr. Banton are balanced by the need to engage and advance human rights for LGBT Jamaicans.

Supervisor Bevan Dufty

Bevan Dufty is running for mayor of San Francisco, with Obama advisor Steve Hildebrand serving as a consultant.  This is important information when considering Dufty’s statement, which is devoid of any doubt, regret, or signs of leadership. When I first read Michael Petrelis’ blog about the meeting, then communicated directly with Michael about it (reported here).

I was under the impression that Dufty and Petrelis and Shorter and company were well intentioned but just hadn’t done their homework. But as Dufty’s statement points out – he and Petrelis at least had prior knowledge of what was happening in Jamaica and had, in fact, initiated and participated in a boycott action. It was incumbent upon them to do their homework about Banton so they could ask the right questions, challenge his lies, and require at the very least an apology for the harm he’s done – as Dufty says was one of their goals.

Instead they not only came away empty-handed but they gave Banton’s PR machine ammunition to use against the LGBT groups that have been working so hard to hold him to account – AND they told everyone the meeting went well for us.

I know this is harsh to say – but I feel that Dufty served here as a kind of appeaser – a gay Neville Chamberlain,  trying ineptly to compromise with hate and when left empty-handed, declare victory!

Since the meeting, the Center says that numerous clubs that either supported or considered supporting the boycott of Banton have reconsidered. Here’s a portion of their press release calling for the protest tonight:

“Over the past several weeks, Banton, who was recently videotaped saying, “There is no end to the war between me and faggots,” has had concerts canceled in Orlando, Tampa, Salt Lake City, Cincinnati, Columbus, Santa Clara, San Francisco, Detroit and several other cities.   His manager, Tracii McGregor, responded to the cancellations with an “open letter” full of incomplete and inaccurate information, decrying LGBT groups for their “war” against Banton and for not having a “larger, more fruitful discussion that could perhaps effect real change.”

The Center responded to McGregor with a letter from Jean, sent on Sept. 15, in which she invites Banton to the Center and to talk about the impact of hate speech. In it, she writes: “If Banton is truly remorseful for performing ‘Boom, Bye Bye’ and contributing to the anti-gay climate in Jamaica, and publicly vows to never perform the song again, the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center would be happy to support an end to the boycott of his concerts.”  She adds, “We’d like nothing more than to have a fruitful discussion that will result in the end of such music.”

When Jean reached McGregor by phone today, McGregor said she and the singer would not meet with any other LGBT organizations and that a recent meeting with LGBT activists in San Francisco was simply “to humanize” the singer.  When Jean asked McGregor if Banton would agree to sign the Reggae Compassionate Act, a vow to never again sing songs that promote violence against LGBT people, McGregor hung up on her.

In addition to the Cabana Club in Hollywood, the Sunset Entertainment Group operates these Los Angeles nightclubs/restaurants: Green Door, Ritual and Pig ‘n Whistle.”

The Center has created a web page, where the public can take action and sign a petition to stop Banton’s Cabana Club concert, as well as a Facebook group: “Cancel Buju Banton’s Los Angles Show!”

Banton is also still booked in San Diego: Oct 17: Solano Beach (San Diego), CA: Still on at the Belly Up,  (858) 481-8040, emails for management and booking: booking@bellyup.com, production@bellyup.com, meryl@bellyup.com, beth@bellyup.com

(hat tip Box Turtle Bulletin)

I’ll have pictures and a report tomorrow.