AEG Live has refused the requests of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center to cancel concerts by Buju Banton, scheduled for October 14th in Los Angeles’ Nokia Club and October 10th in San Francisco and in Philadelphia on September 12th. CEO and President Michael Rapino only responded by saying the company is “looking into the situation.”

Buju Banton is a reggae singer with songs that include lyrics that promote the brutal and violent murder of gay and lesbian people.

Here are some examples of the type of stuff he is promoting through his lyrics: “Boom, Bye Bye” that “faggots get up and run” when he comes, that “they have to die,” and that he will shoot them in the head or “burn them up bad.”

“In his home town of Jamaica, Buju Banton and his fellow performers of ‘murder music,’ have helped to create and sustain a culture in which violence against LGBT people is not only tolerated, it’s cometimes celebrated,” said L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center Chief Executive Officer Lorri L. Jean. “The center is an ardent supporter of free speech and artistic expression, but we cannot – and will not – tolerate speech in any form that promotes violence against LGBT people.”

Back in 2004, thanks to pressure from the Center and the LGBT community, the House of Blues ended up canceling a concert in West Hollywood by Capleton, a reggae singer who also promoted violence against gay people. In addition, they also agreed to cancel a concert a year later to cancel a We-Ho concert by Sizzla, who sang lyrics that included, “I go and shoot queers.”

“It makes me angry that acts such as Banton continue to get booked, and that we have to continue to demand that such performers be denied a platform to promote hate and violence against LGBT people,” said Jean. “If these were artists who sang about murdering any other group of people, no one would be booking them. Promoters, especially huge businesses like AEG Live and Live Nation, must finally understand that there can be no excuse for booking performers who glorify the murder of, or violence against, LGBT people.”

You can help stop hate by visiting the website that The Center has created where the public can take action to stop concerts by Banton. The site urges peacefully that such abhorrent messages are impermissible in today.

The website is www.lagaycenter.org/StopHateLyrics

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