Pressure to cancel US Buju Banton gig

By James Phillips • September 19, 2006 - 0:00

“This is not a case of freedom of speech. It's the case of a nightclub giving a forum to this violent hate speech“.

7 Comments on Pressure to cancel US Buju Banton gig

LGBT campaigners have again demanded the cancellation of a concert due to be held this Wednesday at the Fox Theatre in Boulder, Colorado.

Activists say the Jamaican reggae star Buju Banton hasn't repudiated a 1992 song that calls for violence against gays and lesbians, reports Rocky Mountain News.

A representative for Banton said that Boom Bye Bye, part of a reggae genre dubbed "murder music," was written when Banton was 15 and that the star has since become one of Jamaica's most prominent AIDS activists. Tracii McGregor, vice president of Banton's label, said in a statement that the song has since "haunted his career."

Michael Mills, executive director of Boulder Pride told Rocky Mountain News "this is not a case of freedom of speech. It's the case of a nightclub giving a forum to this violent hate speech".

Calls for the cancellation follow on from cancelled concerts which were due to be held by the controversial homophobic reggae star in both Brighton, Bournemouth and Denmark in July of this year. In these instances the local LGBT community and gay groups have prevented Buju from performing due to extensive lobbying and protest.

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