US Ambassador Bridgewater on LGBT redress in Jamaica ......

Ambassador Bridgewater

Ambassador Curtis Ward

US Ambassador to Jamaica Miss Pamela Bridgewater appeared on an interview recently online called Conversations with America and which also had as guest Ambassador Curtis Ward, former ambassador of Jamaica to the United Nations and currently President of the Caribbean Research and Policy Center, which took place at the department on March 16. The conversation was moderated by deputy assistance secretary Cheryl Benton which took a brief look at issues that both governments at the diplomatic level were and are working on. 

A member of Gays Without Borders also posed some questions among them were:

How is the U.S. prodding the Kingston government to investigate and prosecute bias motivated crimes and will the upcoming annual human rights report mention an improvement or setback for LGBT concerns in Jamaica?

Are there plans to counter the virulent anti-LGBT preaching of religious leaders? What movement can be taken to repeal the anti buggery statues through legislative or judicial avenues?


However the captioned one was posed in the interview:

To which the goodly Ambassador dodged in essence with a smile as if it were some Sunday afternoon coffee table tete a tete instead of dealing with the matter at hand directly.

Bridgewater's response:

"Well, as the individual stated, our human rights report is being vetted right now, so I will not comment on what it states because it has not been released. But I will say that our embassy has engaged very, very aggressively with Jamaica with Jamaicans on a plethora of human rights issues.

Women's issues, the rights of vulnerable populations, children, trafficking in persons, LGBT. I have worked personally on these issues and will continue to do so. So I can assure the questioner that we are involved very vigorously on these areas."

The GWB member has since expressed disappointment and I am too as even if she could not have addressed the report matter she could have stated whether her good office will put pressure to bear on the government to live up to the promise of the buggery law review and the bringing to book of persons and members of the police who abuse LGBT Jamaicans who often have no recourse when such abuse takes place.

According to the GWB member also Ambassador Ward took the opportunity to address how the new prime minister Portia Simpson-Miller would hire a gay person for her administration:

"If I might add to that Ambassador, you may recall that during the last election campaign in Jamaica, the now current prime minister had made a statement.

Which in effect, was a deliberate shift from what had been the perception at least, if not the practice, that she would not be discriminating against any individuals who were gay. That they could serve in her cabinet, that they could be appointed to high positions. So this is a big step in the right direction for Jamaica.

I think the questioner needs to . . . should understand there are steps being taken for greater tolerance and societies like Jamaica will never shift overnight from one position to another. It has to be a gradual process. I think we are in the right direction."

And Bridgewater replied:

"We certainly commend that and are certainly looking forward to other opportunities to expand human rights in Jamaica."

This conversation is remarkable for the fact that Jamaica's former representative to the United Nations was more direct and specific about gays in his country, than the American ambassador who tip-toed around gay concerns. Is she afraid of a backlash or something why she didn't respond? certainly we would not expect the details of talks and activities but to just side step a simple question as posed is just plain poor in my book. Was she leaving it to Ambassador Ward to handle it? 

See the video in question:

See the full interview HERE on Youtube.

Peace and tolerance

H 

Sizzla Hits Back At Gay Rights Critics ..............

Dancehall/Reggae singjay, Sizzla Kalonji has responded sternly to gay rights activists who’ve long criticized the lyrical content of his songs.

Last week, promoters in Sweden cancelled a stage show that Sizzla was booked to appear on this Wednesday at the Hornstull Strand in Stockholm. The show was axed after several gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual activists protested Sizzla's appearance on the bill; condemning his lyrical damnation of homosexuality.

see the Petition that was launched by activists here:  Say No To Hate Music Petition for anti gay artists slated for European shows  

After the latest complaints issued against him by gay rights groups, Sizzla, through his management 

team at Kalonji Musik and Pride Music, issued a detailed statement firing back at such critics who have long opposed his music and stances on such issues as well as clarifying public misperceptions made about him in recent times.

The statement in part reads, "We work closely with many of the artists in the reggae scene and feel that your constant attack against the artists and the musical genre is unfair and one sided. Sizzla has not even begun to tour, yet press releases have been sent giving misinformation to the public about him performing homophobic lyrics at 18 other shows recently. The tour has not even started and Sizzla was not booked to perform in neither Canada nor England. False information is being written to malice and defame his character. It is good to remember that Sizzla has not been arrested, convicted, or charged with any crime and does not have a criminal record what so ever. He abides and will continue to abide by the laws of any State in the World that he chooses to visit or is invited to visit. It is his nature and his character to respect all."

Additionally, Sizzla's management team insists that this latest show cancellation proves how hard the Reggae artiste's critics are trying to censor him.

"Sizzla and all human beings are entitled to freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and artistic freedom as afforded to him by the United Nations Human Rights Council. With these rights he does not seek to incite or provoke violence against anyone, but will continue to speak out against injustices where he sees it. Sizzla and other Jamaicans will continue to support the laws of their country and are free to discuss these issues in a legal framework as a citizen of that country. If anyone has an issue with that, take it up with the respective Government and which ever laws they make, even if he doesn’t agree, he will abide by. In the mean time, every attempt to sabotage or cancel a Sizzla show is a form of censorship against him and the musical genre.”

"Why is it after months of promotions and advertisement, some wait till a few days before a show to try to cancel the performance? This is a form of censorship and is designed to create maximum economic damage to the promoters, the artist, the staff, everyone involved in the construction of the tour, and the reggae industry at large. We don't see you attack Eminem or other musicians who make clear stances against these same issues in the hip-hop, rock, and pop industry. It makes us wonder if there is a bigger picture being painted here? Or is it the fact that they just have better lawyers and bigger companies making money from them?"

Sizzla also believes that part of his mis-perception overseas has to do with a loss in translation, given the strong use of dialect used in songs.

"Patois the language that Sizzla uses to express his music are forms of metaphoric and allegoric expression. The messages in the songs are based on words that have been misconstrued and mistranslated. When he or any artists say burn, fire, or kill, they are not literal terms. In fact the words translate to mean several things depending on the context of its use. So when a DJ in the dancehall takes the mic and says kill Sound boy, it doesn’t mean take a gun a shoot the Sound boy. It means that the DJ is going to win the competition. So interpret at your own risk but understand that in different languages, different words mean different things and Patois is a language very different from English. Historically it was used during slavery to prevent the slave masters from understanding the enslaved Africans as they organized for freedom. Obviously it still is misunderstood and confusing many.

"It is very important for you to understand something. The term batty boy was derived from the rise of pedophiles and rape of young boys in Jamaica. That is why the term batty boy is used, so those that embrace this term, therefore embrace the raping and pedophile of young boys. This is one of the main reasons why there is such an outcry against homosexuality because in many cases in Jamaica it has been done where young boys were raped or coerced by tourist into the lifestyle seeking to gain visa or better opportunities. This has also contributed to a rise in gay male prostitution in Jamaica and is prevalent amongst teenagers and youth of Jamaica."

Sizzla, who recently gave his first live performance in Jamaica since his near fatal bike accident last August, recently stated that the crash helped change his perspective on life. However, his management team believes it's only given critics more reason to bash him despite all the charitable causes he involves himself in and the uplifting messages relayed through his music.

"Sizzla just recovered from a horrific accident where he almost lost his life. Whilst some groups wish he had died, millions of fans around the world sent messages of support, good wishes and prayers for him to make a speedy recovery. This tour partly represent a thanks for their prayers and love that gave him the motivation to get well. Let us be clear, Sizzla has a catalogue of over67 albums and well over 90% of his music is uplifting, positive, speaks of family, empowerment, love, spirituality, and unity. At the same time he is a Rastafarian musician who embraces his faith and plays a pivotal part in the betterment of his society. What would Bob Marley be today if groups protested against him, keeping him in a box, and preventing him from sharing his music? There are two sides to the story, and yes everyone should be entitled to live and express themselves, but we must be respectful of ALL people's values and principles.”

Excerpts from Out a Road

A Note:

Nice try by the management team and his handlers but the fact still remains he has repeatedly performed the murder music in defiance of the very humanist principles of which he is being painted out to espouse here, fancy press statements won't help, he has to say out of his own mouth that he won't go there and live up to the original ideals of Rastafarianism while promoting his cleaner materials of which he has many.

Also the misconception of adult male homosexuality versus same sex paedophilia needs to be addressed and we are to believe therefore that due to these supposed mostly unproven sensationalised stories of boy rape by men without putting them in context that he has the right to utter or regurgitate death messages for individuals? I think not, he is going to have to in no uncertain terms demonstrate his resolve in not uttering such songs he has penned and performed or in fact out-rightly remove the tracks from the public domain as they are still available at several outlets including Youtube. 

Recant Sizzla, that's what you need to do here and promote your better materials such as tracks like "I Need You" "Give Me a Try" and one of your biggest smash hits that is even heralded in the gay community at gay parties "Just One of Those Days"

Peace and tolerance

H

PNP's Damion Crawford says it's highly unlikely buggery review will happen ........ it's not important now he concludes

Damion Crawford State Minister in the ministry of tourism in a follow up interview on CVM TV’s Direct with host Garfield Burford on Wednesday March 13^th tried to explain his recent comments at a function that was carried as a news item on the same television station on the proposed Buggery Law Review by his boss Prime Minister Portia Simpson Prime Minister Miller who in the run up to the last general elections suggested a review of the law along with a conscience vote on the matter. Mr. Crawford as extensively reported in a previous post has satirically suggested that no gay member of parliament is going to come forward and he doubted that the issue would be even raised in parliament.

click here to See a previous post with the video of the news item where the comments were made

Damion Crawford PNP Member of Parliament

In what now seems a PR stint on the face of it or some sort of damage control in light of the perception given that the review of the law would automatically mean a repeal he seems to be capitalizing on this. Bearing in mind also the other perception though not in essence true in that of the supposed 100 day ultimatum given by none other than JFLAG in a botched interview which was interpreted as such leaving the group to be putting out fires in sections of the media as the public became somewhat incensed as to the perceived demand. It is just over seventy days since the new PNP administration is in power.

Considering the issue of Mr Crawford’s cynicism and the Don Anderson recent poll commissioned by CVM TV which gagded the views of 1000 Jamaicans on the buggery issue the question was posed “What would be your perception of the government if it were to repeal or review the buggery law?”

Most respondents said they would be less favourably inclined amounting to 61% with 9% not responding to the question while 7% responding favourably while 23% saying it would not make a difference. Why did Mr. Crawford take on this issue at this time? He responded in the opening of the interview that he was not against the review he said what he was trying to prove was that people have power over parliamentarians and that parliamentarians are aware of the people’s views and may not want to move in that direction in fear of losing support. “Why aren't they using that same power to ensure education is treated in a particular way?” he asked hinting in my view that the buggery law is not important at this time if at all and tacitly contradicting himself when he said he was not against a review. “At the end of the day it is unlikely that a politician will seek to vote in favour of removing the buggery law because he feels he will lose favour with the people, however they can do other things that are essential and more influential on our daily lives ..... that we are unwilling to exhibit that same power ....” he tried to say that the people’s power should be more widespread not just to this issue.

He continued in answering Garfield “Why did Mrs Simpson Miller in your view say this in the debate?” “There is nothing wrong with saying that you’ll have a conscience vote Mrs Simpson Miller understands that it is about a group ........... to have all us say what we perceive or are picking up from our constituents nothing is wrong with that, I could not have understood how it automatically became that she was in favour of a repeal, you don’t even know what her conscience vote would say, therefore to say that we will have a vote in parliament I can’t see anything wrong with that.”

“If the majority of parliamentarians based on their conscience feels that it should be reviewed then it would be reviewed so therefore the possibility would exist once you have a vote on it once it is considered, again it doesn’t mean that her inclination is there or not there, what we’re saying is that her substantive point is she was not going use someone’s sexuality to decide if they are capable or incapable that was the essence of the question, would she have a person of homosexual view in the cabinet, she says she wasn’t going to research that person’s sexuality and that is fear, I am not going to research somebody’s sexuality to see if you’re homosexual or not and then to say you are ineligible to be employed, I don’t think that that is right. The fact that you don’t support a type of life style it doesn’t mean that that person should be punished by the society in any way and that’s what she was saying.”

In as far being diametrically opposed to the Golding not in my cabinet pronouncement he said that there are many other things former PM Golding stood for and the PNP in disagreement so that would be nothing new “What we want in our cabinet is to have people with the greatest ability to achieve the goals of the country.” He said he was not Rastafarian by faith but wears his hair in respect to his father as he is but he (Damion) does not subscribe to Haille Selassie being God.

He tried to also represent the point that the same zeal used by the public to oppose the buggery law should also be applied to education, health care and others as the people are not sufficiently interested. “But this one issue is the one that everybody is totally concerned about, I want them to transfer some of that concern and some of that influence to all the other issues.”

Host Garfield Burford then asked a more profound question: “Do you think in your own view as one of the younger members of parliament and a first time member of parliament that there will ever be a point in Jamaica where views change significantly in this area of homosexuality?” (to me a yes or no answer) he responded “I don’t know, sometimes the more one group pushes the more it is resisted, sometimes that is the case, the reality of the situation is that Jamaica has no homosexual laws, buggery is the law that speaks to penile and anal interaction, it means therefore that if a male buggers a female he can equally be arrested ......... a lesbian couple can’t be charged with buggery ............ if anything it is a sexist law more than an anti homosexual law because women can’t be charged with it but men can with it, it’s the same with rape for example doesn’t mean therefore that rape should be taken off the books, so the argument being put forward of the buggery law as a anti homosexual thing isn’t in itself correct.”

Garfield Burford: “How do you think that should be corrected, because you say that it’s sort of sexist law?” Mr Crawford replied “No I don’t see it as sexist I am saying that if there is any claim, it’s the same as men can rape but women can’t rape so therefore it’s not like I am perceiving it as sexist ............ if there is any prejudice it would not be against sexual orientation it would be against gender, the reality of the situation is that the concept that because of the buggery law is proof that we are anti homosexual is falsehood because it doesn’t apply only ....... the reality of the situation is that any parliamentarian in my mind represents the views of the people, I am elected as a representative ............... when they refer to me they say representative from East Rural St Andrew, it is therefore above me therefore having been elected to represent my own views then become superior to the views of the populace, I must represent the views of the majority in my constituency (Garfield Burford interjects: “...presumably Mrs Simpson Miller as Prime Minister she represents by that argument taken to its logical conclusion she must represent the majority of the views of the people of Jamaica?”) she will represent the views firstly of her constituency, now when the amalgamation of all representatives come together she automatically represents the view of the country .”

Garfield Burford: “What about the argument then that because the majority of persons in Jamaica are still opposed to any review or repeal of the buggery law then she should perhaps not try to have members who are gay, homosexual in her cabinet?”

Crawford said: “What I just said to you that buggery and homosexuality are not automatic, so therefore that don’t mean that, the fact of the matter is that is there a process to ascertain with certainty that a person is of a particular sexual persuasion? (he replied no) ....... you cannot look at man or female and automatically know their sexual preferences. We had never had a situation where there is a self confessed politician victorious in the first place and then secondly to be considered there, the question seemed to have arisen out of the pigment of someone’s imagination, more so that one that is of great importance to the development of the nation ........... In the same way that we have consistently have parliament who are afraid and unwilling to touch the buggery law because of the perception that it is automatically homosexual accommodation is in the same way that we shouldn’t have a system that is turning out two children that can’t read very good and one children that can read” (his actual words)

He erred at a point in the interview where he said in response to a question posed on the gay community’s desire to have the law reviewed. He described the so called majority as normal, “There are many things that many people want within a society, the government has a responsibility I believe for the greater good for the greater majority at this point for some reason right which by socialization or otherwise ........... The normal Jamaican is not, sorry, the average Jamaican is not in support of a repeal, it is our responsibility .......... a review in my mind it doesn’t affect the reality, people should be open to the review but then the outcome based on the point I am making of the people’s power will be that very, I predict zero politicians would be willing to risk their political careers based on the people’s influence and that is the central point, the people’s influence is great and this is the evidence of it, they therefore should use that influence to change more important things, what are the most important things facing this country right now? The most important thing facing us is the ability for our children to go through school and come and being equipped to survive in a new society, a knowledge society, why therefore are we not paying equal attention as a people to that? Why are we not paying equal attention to health policies? And so what I was saying in the conversation we were having at the presentation was people power is further than the election, it goes to the governance because the politician can only act in ways that he perceives will find greatest favour with people if he is to be successful as a politician.”

Mr Burford asked Mr Crawford if Mrs Simpson Miller in the last general election was trying to straddle the fence or appeal to both gay voters and otherwise? The question was posed on the perception that there is a powerful homosexual lobby in Jamaica who want a review of the buggery law, was she trying to be politically expedient? Mr Crawford replied “remember you know her point was we , she was not willing to research someone’s sexuality to hire, it was a follow up question that then she said yes, she’d be willing to review and each representative by extension each individual if it is supposed to be in the best case because I’m supposed to represent the views of my people therefore if in such a review I should go and interact with my constituents and so should the other 63 (there are 63 seats in parliament) and come with a consensus from the constituents and so therefore the nation would have had their say on it, we could have a referendum for example which is another form of review, the point that you are willing to review is not pondering to both sides because the outcome will be either or this is an outcome that can be a middle ground outcome, it’s not a grey area, it is either it is repealed or not repealed.”

He confirmed that there has been no moves on the issue since the party has come to power some two months plus, “nothing has been moved in parliament to my knowledge.” As for JFLAG and the perceived 100 day ultimatum which they tried to clear up after a media report presented a radio interview as such Mr Crawford suggested again that other groups are lobbying for their own causes such as the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica, PSOJ, “there are always groups in society that want different things. I want for example for sign language to be taught in schools. They are some persons who want marijuana to be legalized, that fact that a group wants some movement don’t mean automatically that we can all have it in two months”

Then came the other million dollar question by Mr Burford for some despite denials to that effect, “Did the party get any help financially assistance, contributions from the gay community because of Mrs Simpson Miller’s statement in that debate?” Mr Crawford responded “Not to my knowledge, no, I don’t know, I wasn’t the centre of that I was busy on the road walking up and down but I don’t know of any contributions from any particular group because of that statement and if so they would have misread the statement because a review can’t be sufficient, there was a review of hanging what has happened since” He continued “The context is that we have politically for reasons and otherwise seem to come to a conclusion that a review automatically means a repeal and it is in my mind because of the influence of the people that that is highly unlikely.”

The interview steered to tourism issues.

The somewhat cumbersome roundabout answering of direct questions (as the program is themed) is worrisome to me and the shifting goalposts too. On one hand he is calling for the public to be as energized on other national issues but on the other he is dismissing the review of the buggery law as unimportant while expressing the long held fear factor by his predecessors of directly confronting this issue bearing in mind that albeit the promise by his boss Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller (the she was opposition leader) did not stop the PNP from winning but then again there was electorate burn out and disillusionment with the poor performances overall of both political parties. The nation was also weary from the protracted Manatt Dudus commission affair so only core voters came out on election day for the PNP while the incumbent supporters ate all the food and revelled on the campaign trail making the party thinking it had a second term in the bag but they didn’t vote on the day when it mattered.

Strange circumstances here I think, what is the purpose of Mr Crawford standing alone publicly on this matter when none of his other PNP colleagues have responded publicly so far?

Is this a diversion or a delay tactic? 

Mr. Crawford seems to have forgotten his question he asked at that function where he said, "Which Government you think is going to try to legalize homosexuality?" where he answered "none of us are going to try to do it," with the crowd laughing in jest and he encouraged them by saying "Not just of out probability there must be even one homosexual in the parliament but him nah go raise up him hand cause de people nuh inna dat" [he is not going to raise his hands because the people are not into that] yet in the above transcript he tries to paint a picture to say buggery and homosexuality are not synonymous, what gives here, really? Can we conclude that the promise by Mrs Simpson Miller was just that? Another promise?

for some background on the JFLAG 100 day demand misconception go here: 

JFLAG wants PNP to discuss Buggery Law within 100 days of assuming office

also see:   CVM TV @ Sunrise on JFLAG 100 days meeting/PM & the Buggery Law 11.01.12 

and this video clip

As for JFLAG ………… mistakes such as granting a telephone interview (sans any consultations with the community I might add) to the media in a “hot environment” when homosexuality or related matters are in the public domain is a no no, all the J should have done was waited and not mention anything at all to do with any time line in any way, shape or form now for it to be misrepresented as an ultimatum. We have had previous misconceptions before of JFLAG’s position by media and one would have thought that as a former media participant himself the Executive Director of JFLAG Mr. Lewis would have known the ins and outs of local media with regards to hot button issues such as this. The San Francisco boycott some years ago and the suggested EGALE tourism boycott as well are prime examples of learning curves for the group and speaking just a little too much but when it’s time to speak there is silence. How many mistakes are there to be made before it is perfected? one never knows.

Let us also keep in sight the press release from the PNP days following the suggestion by then opposition leader Simpson Miller, the general secretary Peter Phillips had said " .........the Party Leader has proposed a review of the Act, and not a repeal of it.“During the review, every Member of Parliament will be required to bring to bear on the discussions, the views and the opinion of his or her constituents. At the end of the review, if a vote is to be taken, the vote will be a conscience vote, which means each Member of Parliament will vote according to the directive of his/ her constituents........”

Bear this in mind as well, after digging my archives I found the presentation by Mrs Simpson Miller in 2009 (poor audio though) where she sided wholeheartedly with the then Prime Minster Bruce Golding (his speech linked) on the banning of gay marriage, gay marriage rights by the way was never asked for by the LGBT advocacy structure at that time but it was dishonestly pushed on the agenda during the Charter of Rights debate then as a smoke screen to deny us recognition in the Charter. The clause that had discrimination as an infraction then was also removed from the draft prior to this speech after successful lobbying by none other than the Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship with support from none other than reverend Al Miller.

She said on October 20th 2009 - "Mr Speaker when we accepted the final report from the joint select committee that were looking at the bill we were completely satisfied with their recommendation of a provision to restrict marriage and like relationships to one man and one woman within Jamaica and that the provision should be specifically spelt out so that there could be no ambiguity ………. yes one man one woman (laughter in the house) and if you are Jamaican and go overseas the same applies ……….."

Has Prime Minister Simpson Miller changed her mind or is evolving as President Obama did and is moving towards having the review done?

I would much rather be certain of this than having to be getting unpredictable moves by politicians.

Peace and tolerance

H

Say No To Hate Music Petition for anti gay artists slated for European shows

Sizzla one of Jamaica's caustic artists is slated to make appearances alongside other artists in Europe in the coming months and a call has come through a petition captioned above to Say No To Hate Music from LGBT activists in that side of the globe. Let us not forget in late 2011  ..............

 

Sizzla himself broke the RCA, Reggae Compassionate Act by performing an anti gay anthem "Boom Bye Bye" by fellow artist Buju Banton in Montego Bay at a Coca Cola sponsored event. Coca Cola (Coke Zero) at the time upon news of the infraction brought to their attention offered an apology overall and directly messaged me and commented on my sister blog GLBTQJA on Wordpress the following: 

This is Carlos from Coca-Cola. We, too, were deeply disappointed that a program intended to celebrate the heritage of Jamaica included an unacceptable performance that in no way represents the views or values of the Coca-Cola system.

Diversity is one of our key values, and we do not tolerate discrimination of any kind, including discrimination based on sexual orientation.

As a result of this regrettable incident by one artist, we are reassessing and strengthening our efforts to ensure that events we sponsor are not used as platforms for espousing hatred and discrimination. We are continuing to work with the advocacy groups that brought this situation to our attention.

We apologize to all who were offended by this performance, and we we want to ensure that our views on this incident are clear.

Carlos Diaz
Coca-Cola Caribbean

The Petition's call: A number of clubs in Europe (also in Belgium again where a show was cancelled before) will offer a stage in March and April 2012 to an "artist" who calls for the murder of LGBT people, To read more about what I'm trying to do and to sign the petition, click here:

http://www.change.org/petitions/say-no-to-hate-music-don-t-give-a-platform-to-singers-who-call-for-the-murder-of-lgbt-people

Let the event sponsors know what we think about their support for hate and violence. Tell them that we will not tolerate it anymore. Last year another petition was a huge success and together we could prevent most of the concerts of a similar singer.

It'll just take a minute! Together we can make a change!

Why This Is Important

A number of clubs in Europe will offer a stage in March and April to an "artist" who calls for the murder of LGBT people. It is time to speak up again and to call for a boycott of these events and their sponsors. Several clubs invited the singer Sizzla, who uses his songs to encourage the murder of homosexuals:

Here are some of Sizzla's lyrics (translations in parentheses):

In "Pump Up" he sings:
Step up inna front line (Step up to the front line)
fire fi di man dem weh go ride man behind (burn the men who have sex with men from behind)
Shot battybwoy, my big gun boom (Shoot queers, my big gun goes boom)

In "Boom Boom" he sings:
Boom boom! Batty boy them fi dead (Boom boom! Queers must be killed)

In the song "Get To Da Point" he sings:
Sodomite and batty bwai mi seh a death fi dem (Sodomite and queers, I say death to them)
Mi no trust babylon fi a second yah so (I don't trust Babylon for a second)
Mi a go shot batty bwai dem widdi weapon ya (I go and shoot queers with a weapon [as in gunshots])

At a reggae concert in Chicago in April 2002, Sizzla bragged that he kills queers, and also incited the audience to murder gays and lesbians: "mi nuh go tek back mi chat... mi kill sodomite and batty man dem bring aids and disease pon people... shot a kill dem, mi nuh go tek back mi chat" [I wont take back my words... I kill sodomites and queers, they bring AIDS and disease upon people... shoot and kill them, I won't take back my words.]

In 2008 he was arrested and sent back to the United States after he arrived for a concert in Madrid after Spanish human right organizations protested against what they said was his call for violence against homosexuals. In 2007, Sizzla's concerts in Toronto and Montreal had been cancelled after protests. In 2009 and 2010 several concerts in Germany had been cancelled after public protests against the concerts. Two of Sizzla's albums are forbidden to be sold in Germany, and a German politician compares this kind of music with neo-Nazi music. We must build on this growing movement.

These songs are all on YouTube. And these are not all of Sizzla’s homophobic songs. Sizzla signed the Reggae Compassionate Act agreement promising to “respect and uphold the rights of all individuals to live without violence due to their religion, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity or gender”. But he violated his agreement immediately. In an interview in the Canadian entertainment magazine 'Hour', Sizzla said: "...burn sodomite, burn battyman. Burn all things that are wrong. Burn it... We must get rid of Sodom and Gomorrah right now..."

We demand that the 18 Clubs (Live Club in Milano, Atlantico in Rome, Reigen in Vienna, Travastia in Helsinki, Strand in Stockholm, Rockefeller Music Hall in Oslo, Melkweg in Amsterdam, L'Oval in Nancy, Heidegger in Rotterdam, Oosterport in Groningen, Vooruit in Gent, TMN ao VIVO in Lisbon, La Rocher Palmer in Bordeaux, Rockstore in Montpellier, Apolo in Barcelona, Sala Arena in Madrid, Sala Vivero in Malaga, and Rambleta in Valencia) to immediately withdraw their support of people who call for hate, violence, and murder -- towards gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people, and anyone at all!

Other clubs slated to book artists include

Club Atlantico in Rome, Italy
Club Reigen in Vienna, Austria
Club Atlantico in Rome, Italy
Ufficio Stampa (Club Atlantico in Rome, Italy)
Travastia in Helsinki, Finland
Travastia in Helsinki, Finland
Rockefeller Music Hall in Oslo, Norway
Rockefeller Music Hall in Oslo, Norway
Rockefeller Music Hall in Oslo, Norway
Melkweg in Amsterdam, Netherlands
L'Oval in Nancy, France
Heidegger in Rotterdam, Netherlands
Heidegger in Rotterdam, Netherlands
Vooruit in Gent, Belgium
TMN ao VIVO in Lisbon, Portugal
La Rocher Palmer in Bordeaux, France
Rockstore in Montpellier, France
La Rocher Palmer in Bordeaux, France
La Rocher Palmer in Bordeaux, France
Rockstore in Montpellier, France
Sala Apolo in Barcelona, Spain
Sala Arena in Madrid, Spain
Sala Vivero in Malaga, Spain
La Rambleta in Valencia, Spain
Promoter (Bunfiresquad)
Eventlocation (Melkweg in Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Live Club in Trezzo sull'Adda (near Milano), Italy
Vooruit in Ghent, Belgium
Vooruit in Ghent, Belgium
Rockefeller Music Hall in Oslo, Norway
Rockefeller Music Hall in Oslo, Norway
De Oosterpoort in Groningen, Netherlands
De Oosterpoort in Groningen, Netherlands
De Oosterpoort in Groningen, Netherlands
De Oosterpoort in Groningen, Netherlands
De Oosterpoort in Groningen, Netherlands
Melkweg in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Strand in Stockholm, Sweden
Strand in Stockholm, Sweden
KB West and Maestro Prod. (Tim Badejo)

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Peace and tolerance

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