Gay activist groups in the UK are calling for the government to prosecute reggae artists inciting anti-gay violence in their lyrics. Apparently a lot of contemporary reggae songs aren't just about smoking ganja and finding Jah love, but contain lyrics like "bun the chi-chi" ("burn the homosexual"); this includes songs by popular artists such as Beenie Man. Which all raises the question: is gay-bashing more culturally diverse if it's in a reggae song?

Posted by: gjw | http://the-fix.org | Fri Dec 27 01:07:05 2002

An anti-gay attitude (as well as the subjugation of women) has long been a part of the Rastafarian religion. I remember reading about 80's rasta-punks Bad Brains getting into a lot of trouble back then for anti-gay comments.

Posted by: acb | http://dev.null.org | Fri Dec 27 14:08:32 2002

Also, is Rastafarianism still a black-supremacist movement, or are those white stoners who claim they're Rastas actually legit?

Posted by: ogm | http://addedentry.livejournal.com/ | Mon Dec 30 22:59:16 2002

The Guardian's previous coverage of this story contains a wonderfully straight-faced quote:

'Capelton insists the fires he sings about throwing gay men into are metaphorical allusions to cleansing and purity.' http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/news/story/0,11711,802864,00.html

Rather like Chris Morris' satirical defence of gangsta rapper Fur-Q: 'These killings are obviously ironic.'

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