London Indymedia

Gay Pride mocks Jamaican hate singers

OutRage! News Service | 04.07.2004 11:29 | Culture | Gender | London | World

Gay Pride mocks Jamaican hate singers. Dancehall “Killer Queens” Exposed.
Are Beenie Man, Elephant Man and Bounty Killer secretly gay?
London Mayor Ken Livingstone condemns “homophobic lyrics”

Activists mock Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Elephant Man and Buju Banton at London
Activists mock Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Elephant Man and Buju Banton at London

The Placards
The Placards


London – UK – 3 July 2004

Four of Jamaica’s top dancehall music stars were mocked and ridiculed as “Killer Queens” in today’s Gay Pride Parade in London, UK, which was dedicated to the memory of murdered Jamaican gay rights campaigner, Brian Williamson.

Poster-size photos of Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Elephant Man and Buju Banton – retouched with pink lipstick, blue eye-liner and red nail polish – were carried by gay rights group OutRage! and black gay Jamaican friends of Brian Williamson.

They marched at the head of the parade, immediately behind the lead banner and the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone.

Speaking to reporters at the start of the Parade, Mr Livingstone condemned “homophobic lyrics that incite violence against lesbians and gays”.

Mayor Livingstone later told the BBC: “As the murder of Brian Williamson shows, homophobia continues to have tragic consequences all over the world”.

Each OutRage! placard featured a camped-up photo of one of the four homophobic Jamaican singers, captioned with the words “Jamaica’s Killer Queen”. The plackards also carried a quote from singer’s lyrics which incite the murder of gay people, and the catch-line “Stop Murder Music” (see attached sample Parade photo and the four placard images.).

OutRage! says it has received information from Jamaica alleging that “some of the dancehall artistes who sing homophobic songs are themselves secretly gay”.

“It is time Beenie Man, Bounty Killer and Elephant Man came clean and told the people of Jamaica the truth about their sexuality”, said OutRage!

Speaking at the Gay Pride rally in Trafalgar Square, Peter Tatchell of OutRage! said:

“Lesbian and gay Jamaicans are being beaten and murdered. The Jamaican government and police are doing nothing serious to stop homophobic hate crimes”.

“We demand an end to the murder music that encourages violence against lesbians and gay men – both here in Britain and in Jamaica.

“Let’s make a noise for queer freedom in Jamaica”.

In response, the whole of Trafalgar Square, filled with thousands of people, erupted into a huge, deafening roar.

ENDS

OutRage! News Service
- e-mail: media@outrage.org.uk
- Homepage: http://www.outrage.org.uk

Comments

Display the following 11 comments

  1. Good Work — Indpendent Left
  2. Statement from Buju Banton's Record Company — Buju Banton's Manager
  3. Shame they make such wicked music... — Lover Boy
  4. Wrong about Sizzla — Brett Lock
  5. well, looks like youve all fallen into a trap... — hollo lafter
  6. This topic — Ross
  7. Barking Up the Wrong Tree — asha
  8. Homophobia isn´t ok — eleve oh
  9. WHAT KINDA FOOLISHNESS IS THIS?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! — ~AGGRAVATED~
  10. Rap iz CRAP — BobMarleysuckscock
  11. reggae a gwaan wid nuff bullet fi Batty people — Bishop Ranking

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

London Topics

Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

London IMC

Desktop

About | Contact
Mission Statement
Editorial Guidelines
Publish | Help

Search :