propaganda press! freedom in Guyana

SASOD, the prominent Gay/Human Rights body in Guyana, recently invited the local Government to denounce the promotion of societal Homophobia. The move was prompted by the expected arrival of the controversial Dance Hall Entertainer, Buju Banton, who is slated to perform in the South American Nation on October 27, 2007.  

Buju Banton, has long been the poster child of Homophobia and has deservedly spawned the wrath of the world Gay community. As a result of organized lobbying from these Gay groups, many progressive countries have barred performances by the provokative entertainer and cited his lyrics as hate mongering. Using the power of his medium, Buju Banton has called for indiscriminate killings of law abiding Gay citizens. This according to Human Rights groups, slithers into territories of hate crimes and should not be condoned by civilized Governments.
 
The entertainer’s publicist Tracii McGregor in a penned letter to the Guyana Stabroek Newspaper, attempted to defend Buju Banton’s track record on these hate lyrics. She  was however unsuccessful at portraying a civilized image of the seemingly uncouth singer. After being asked by the Gay community to remove the “boom bye bye” song from his musical lineup, Ms. McGregor reluctantly confirmed that it was performed at a recent international venue. She explained that the singer only performed the song to call attention to his “ongoing” persecution by Gay rights groups and claimed he has “moved on” since the song was created during his naive teen-aged years. Contrary to what Ms. McGregor stated, I have it on good authority that the singer choose to add the song to that performance’s line-up to gain solidarity from his homophobic audience. It has over the years remained one of their favourite Anti-Gay anthems. More importantly, Buju Banton has refused to publicly apologize to the Gay Community for the tremendous trauma and ruin his vile lyrics has caused. He also refused signing on to the agreement by three of the Top Dancehall DJ’s to not play hate lyrics that are directed at Gays.
 
Let no-one be fooled by Ms. McGregor’s letter. Gays who were beaten, killed and maimed as a consequence of Buju Banton’s inspired hate lyrics are the real “Persecuted Victims” and certainly not Buju Banton. This plebeian is all too happy to make a buck at their expense. The Gay community takes particular offence to Ms. McGreggors reference that the inspiration to the “boom bye bye” song was birthed from a male/boy rape in Jamaica. This island nation has one of the highest man/underage girl rape incidents in the Caribbean region and certainly we do not see heterosexual males being targeted and persecuted in this manner. Additionally, her comment that Buju has many Gay fans only lends reinforcement to prudent importance for this artiste to demonstrate appropriate respect and considertation to his Gay revenue base. Let Buju Banton be on notice that when he performs in Guyana this month, the ”Batty Boys of the World”, as he puts it, will be watching closely.
 
It is in this backdrop that the GHRC and the Ethnic Relations Committee should be morally bound to add their voices to SASOD and call on the Guyanese President to denounce this Hate Mongering artiste from inflicting psychological trauma to it’s Gay citizenry. The Jagdeo Administration could very well draw from the experiences of the USA Senator, Larry Craig. That it is important to foster Gay Positive invironments so that this safety net can be an available resource when needed.
 
Also, the ERC has an obligation to show leadership in the protection of all Guyanese citizens and not just it’s heterosexual segment. Bishop Edghill, it’s Chairperson, has been previously accused of demonstrating prejudice and bias towards Gays by lobbying against any ad-vocation of their rights. 
 
 
 
 
Berkeley Van Bowen

South & Central American Operative

International Human Rights Watch