Stonewall Columbus is calling for the immediate cancellation of the concert by reggae singer Buju Banton who is currently scheduled to perform at The Alrosa Villa on October 2, 2009. Banton is infamous for a career spanning twenty years in which his lyrics call for deadly violence against gay men. His performances have sparked protests in cities across America, resulting in several cancelled performances on his US 2009 tour including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Dallas and Houston.
Through his music, Banton promotes a culture of violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, singing in his most notorious song , Boom, Bye Bye that “when Buju Banton come, faggots get up and run.” Other lyrics included “they have to die” and that he will “shoot ’em in the head” or “burn ’em up bad.”
In his home country of Jamaica, Banton and his fellow performers of “murder music,” have helped to create and sustain a culture in which violence against LGBT people is not only tolerated, it is even celebrated. Banton has not renounced his homophobic lyrics, or his explicit calls to violence against people in the GLBTQI community. He has performed these songs in various recent concerts and been quoted as saying proudly “There is no end to the war between me and the faggots.”
Columbus has the largest number of LGBT people per capita in the nation. Producing a show that spews this much hatred is a direct slap in the face to the tens of thousands of LGBT people who live, work and raise families in our diverse twenty-first century city. Stonewall Columbus urges supporters to take swift action to stop the preaching of hate against the LGBT community and asks that all fair-minded people stand with the LGBT community in calling for the cancellation of this performance on October 2.
Send letters to: The Alrosa Villa, 5055 Sinclair Rd. Columbus, Ohio 43229 or contact them through their website at www.alrosavilla.com
