End to 'homophobic reggae' truce

Buju Banton has come under fire for his 1992 song Boom Bye Bye

Gay rights groups are to resume their campaign against three allegedly homophobic reggae stars.

The move follows the cancellation of concerts by Buju Banton in Brighton and Beenie Man in Bournemouth following lobbying by local gay activists.

Last year the reggae industry pledged not to let their stars play or release songs advocating anti-gay violence.

But Peter Tatchell of OutRage! said Buju Banton, Beenie Man and Bounty Killer had broken that agreement.

"As far as they are concerned, the truce is over," he said.

"The campaign against them has resumed. We will maintain the truce with the other singers who have stuck by the agreement."

'No threat'

The three artists broke the deal by repeating homophobic songs and views, OutRage! said.

The agreement was between the Stop Murder Music coalition, an umbrella group including OutRage!, the Black Gay Men's Advisory Group and Jamaican movement J-Flag, and major dancehall reggae record labels and concert promoters covering eight of the scene's leading stars.

But the artists themselves were not involved in the negotiations.

Buju Banton had been scheduled to perform at the Concorde 2 in Brighton on Wednesday.

The event was eventually called off despite the venue's assurances that it "would not have caused a threat to community welfare".

Beenie Man had been scheduled to perform at the Bournemouth International Centre on 29 July.

Both Jamaican artists have been censured for lyrics that allegedly incite the murder of lesbians and gays.

Beenie Man, however, has claimed that his use of the phrase "batty men" refers to child molesters and not homosexuals.

Representatives of the artists concerned were unavailable for comment.