Caption for above photo: The sister of Brian Williamson, Jamaica's foremost gay leader, is comforted following the multiple stabbing murder of her brother on June 9th of this year.

Block “Beenie Man's” Tour in Chicago

Remember Slain Jamaican Gay Rights Campaigner Brian Williamson

Tell House of Blues that Beenie Man is Not Welcome Here

Jamaican reggae/regga dancehall singer Beenie Man (aka Anthony Davis) has begun what he hopes will be a profitable tour of some 33 US cities, including Chicago. Beenie Man’s hit tune Damn has the line: “I’m dreaming of a new Jamaica, come to execute all the queers.”

His song Han up Deh includes the words: “Hang chi chi gal wid a long piece of rope” (hang queer women with a long piece of rope). Another Beenie Man track is called “Bad Man, Chi Chi Man.” “Chi chi man" is a derogatory Jamaican patios insult, similar to faggot or queer. The lyrics of “Bad man, Chi Chi Man” include the exhortation that if you see a gay DJ run off the stage like a clown and kill him: “Yuh see im to run off a stage like a clown, kill dem DJ!”

The release of “kill gays” songs by Beenie Man and other Jamaican dancehall music artists has been followed by a wave of homophobic violence in Jamaica and Britain (where there is a substantial population of Jamaican descent). Lesbians and gays have been shot, stabbed, macheted and stoned to death, doused with gasoline and set ablaze, and chased into the sea and left to drown.

Victims include Brian Williamson, the foremost gay rights leader on the island nation, whose multiply-stabbed body was found June 9. Gay sex in Jamaica is punishable by 10 years hard labor.

As Americans who oppose violence against LGBT people, we also must be mindful of the nefarious role played by the US government in promoting the conditions of poverty in Jamaica and elsewhere, which help breed this scapegoating and violence.

Attacks on gays and other groups in Third World countries occur against a backdrop of grinding poverty promoted by so-called “free trade” programs imposed by the U.S. Already poor local economies are devastated further because the only “free trade” that occurs is in commodities for which the U.S. has a competitive advantage, while U.S. taxpayers subsidize the dumping of U.S. exports, such as agriculture, where poorer countries might otherwise compete and build their own wealth.

Antigay rhetoric by bishops, preachers and politicians in the US has similarly helped create a climate in which increased antigay violence is occurring. No respectable venue today would showcase an artist who defamed Jews or African-Americans. We demand the same respect for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people!

Beenie Man is scheduled to perform at Chicago's House of Blues on October 25, 2004. Please help us secure the cancellation of this performance. Tell House of Blues that hate speech and incitements to murder must not be showcased or financially rewarded!

1. Contact House of Blues:
329 N. Dearborn Street, Chicago, IL 60610
312-923-2000
E-mail: chicago (at) hob.com

2. Protest Beenie Man on October 25:
If the House of Blues refuses to cancel hate singer (details of the protest to be announced)

This announcement is issued by the Chicago Anti-Bashing Network, a Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Trans direct action group that fights for gay freedom, and works in solidarity with other groups fighting oppression.

Please download and circulate widely the attached pdf flyer which contains the above text.