Queersetti
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(Los Angeles, California) A Jamaican reggae singer whose European concerts have been cancelled over his advocacy to kill gays will perform Wednesday night in Ohio.
Sizzla will play the House of Blues in Cleveland. A second concert, scheduled for September 12 at the West Hollywood House of Blues, was cancelled this week following complaints from the Los Angeles Gay and and Lesbian Center.
But, the House of Blues chain, whose principal owners are comedians Jim Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, has refused to cancel the Cleveland concert despite concerns raised by that city's LGBT Community Center.
A spokesperson for the center said the club has refused to return calls seeking an explanation.
The House of Blues chain knew when it booked Sizzla that his music is considered by gays to be incendiary. One year ago, a similar concert by Capleton, another reggae artist who performs anti-gay lyrics, was cancelled at the West Hollywood House of Blues following protests from the LA Center.
A European tour last year by Sizzla was cancelled following protests from gays that resulted in the UK and other countries refusing to give him an entry visa. When death threats were made by Sizzla supporters against British LGBT activist Peter Tatchell, who spearheaded the drive to have the singer barred, police provided round the clock security for Tatchell.
“It’s ironic that while a foreign government is preventing a singer who incites violence against gay people from entering its country, the House of Blues—whose mission is to ‘promote racial and spiritual harmony through love, peace, truth, righteousness and non-violence’—is inviting him to perform in West Hollywood and Cleveland,” said Lorri L. Jean, chief executive officer of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center.
“If Sizzla’s lyrics promoted the murder of Jews, Latinos, African-Americans or any other minority group, venues like the House of Blues wouldn’t even think about providing him a space to perform.”
Lyrics from Sizzla’s songs include: “Shot batty bwoy, my big gun boom” (Shoot queers, my big gun goes boom); “Boom boom! Batty boy them fi dead” (Boom boom, queers must be killed); and “Mi a go shot batty bwai dem widdie weapon ya” (I go and shoot queers with a weapon).
Sizzla was one of eight anti-gay reggae artists who was initially party to a truce that was negotiated by Tatchell's group, Outrage.
Outrage agreed to suspend its campaign against hate music when the managers and relevant record companies agreed that the performers would refrain from using the offensive songs and that no new such songs would be written, performed or recorded. But, last month Sizzla violated the agreement, performing a song advocating killing gays at a Jamaican concert.
Earlier this summer the Cleveland House of Blues organized a series of events to position the club as an accepting and tolerant place for LGBT people.
"Sizzla’s appearance not only contradicts those efforts but devalues the local LGBT community," said Doerfer, Executive Director of the Lesbian/Gay Community Center of Greater Cleveland.
"If we were valued enough to be customers, why are we not valued as concerned citizens? Refusing to cancel the Cleveland show is a gesture of intolerance that makes the company’s outreach to our community very patronizing.”
The House of Blues did not return calls seeking comment.
©365Gay.com 2005
Sizzla will play the House of Blues in Cleveland. A second concert, scheduled for September 12 at the West Hollywood House of Blues, was cancelled this week following complaints from the Los Angeles Gay and and Lesbian Center.
But, the House of Blues chain, whose principal owners are comedians Jim Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, has refused to cancel the Cleveland concert despite concerns raised by that city's LGBT Community Center.
A spokesperson for the center said the club has refused to return calls seeking an explanation.
The House of Blues chain knew when it booked Sizzla that his music is considered by gays to be incendiary. One year ago, a similar concert by Capleton, another reggae artist who performs anti-gay lyrics, was cancelled at the West Hollywood House of Blues following protests from the LA Center.
A European tour last year by Sizzla was cancelled following protests from gays that resulted in the UK and other countries refusing to give him an entry visa. When death threats were made by Sizzla supporters against British LGBT activist Peter Tatchell, who spearheaded the drive to have the singer barred, police provided round the clock security for Tatchell.
“It’s ironic that while a foreign government is preventing a singer who incites violence against gay people from entering its country, the House of Blues—whose mission is to ‘promote racial and spiritual harmony through love, peace, truth, righteousness and non-violence’—is inviting him to perform in West Hollywood and Cleveland,” said Lorri L. Jean, chief executive officer of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center.
“If Sizzla’s lyrics promoted the murder of Jews, Latinos, African-Americans or any other minority group, venues like the House of Blues wouldn’t even think about providing him a space to perform.”
Lyrics from Sizzla’s songs include: “Shot batty bwoy, my big gun boom” (Shoot queers, my big gun goes boom); “Boom boom! Batty boy them fi dead” (Boom boom, queers must be killed); and “Mi a go shot batty bwai dem widdie weapon ya” (I go and shoot queers with a weapon).
Sizzla was one of eight anti-gay reggae artists who was initially party to a truce that was negotiated by Tatchell's group, Outrage.
Outrage agreed to suspend its campaign against hate music when the managers and relevant record companies agreed that the performers would refrain from using the offensive songs and that no new such songs would be written, performed or recorded. But, last month Sizzla violated the agreement, performing a song advocating killing gays at a Jamaican concert.
Earlier this summer the Cleveland House of Blues organized a series of events to position the club as an accepting and tolerant place for LGBT people.
"Sizzla’s appearance not only contradicts those efforts but devalues the local LGBT community," said Doerfer, Executive Director of the Lesbian/Gay Community Center of Greater Cleveland.
"If we were valued enough to be customers, why are we not valued as concerned citizens? Refusing to cancel the Cleveland show is a gesture of intolerance that makes the company’s outreach to our community very patronizing.”
The House of Blues did not return calls seeking comment.
©365Gay.com 2005
