CHICAGO — Gay activists will rally in front of the House of Blues (HOB) nightclub, 329 N. Dearborn, at 7 pm, Thursday, September 23 to protest the Club’s sponsorship of a performance by reggae singer Capleton. Jamaican-born Capleton openly calls for killing Lesbian and Gay people in a number of his most prominent songs, and hails from a country widely seen as particularly vicious towards gay people.

As part of the protest, activists with the Chicago Anti-Bashing Network (CABN) will call for a the beginning of a full-scale boycott of the club by all who oppose hate violence against any group.

Capleton’s tour comes in the context of increased hate violence against gay people both in the United States and abroad. In June, Jamaica’s most prominent gay rights campaigner, Brian Williamson, was found murdered in a manner that would suggest that it was a hate crime. Gay sex is punishable by up to ten years of hard labor according to the nation’s statutes.

In the United States, anti-violence monitors report a spike in violence reports as politicians manipulate the “gay marriage” issue to whip up anti-gay sentiment. Just last week, evangelist Jimmy Swaggart also called for killing gays during a sermon broadcast on Canadian television. His congregation responded to the comment by applauding.

One of Capleton’s most frequently performed songs is called ““Bun Out Di Chi Chi” which, translated from the Jamaican patois, means “Burn Out The Queer” (“Chi Chi” is pejorative slang for gay people). The song calls for its listeners to “Bun out ah chi chi, Blood out ah chi chi (“Burn out a queer, Blood out a queer). “Blood out” is a particularly violent, graphic expression meaning to chop, cut, stab and shoot.

CABN has made numerous calls, emails and visits to the House of Blues in an attempt to discuss the issues with HOB management, but HOB has chosen to ignore us. Instead, they issued a press release claiming that they had to go forward with the concert because it was an issue of freedom of “artistic expression.”

“Since when is advocacy of murder called ‘artistic expression’? This is absurd,” said CABN’s Bob Schwartz. “The sad reality is that if Capleton openly called for the murder of any other minority group, corporations like House of Blues wouldn’t touch them with a ten-foot pole. Unfortunately, HOB management feels it’s still open season on gays. We intend to return the favor, and call on all people of good will to never again go to the House of Blues for any show or artist.”

Capleton also has performances scheduled at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, CA (October 4th) and New Orleans (October 11th). In Chicago, the performance was also sponsored by Bud Lite beer, which responded to protests by ordering HOB management to cease selling Capleton tickets with their name or logo on them. Major investors in HOB include entertainers Jim Belluschi (www.jimbelushi.ws/emailform.htm) and Dan Aykroyd.

The House of Blues can be contacted as follows:
Visit or write the club at: 329 N. Dearborn Street, Chicago, IL 60610
Phone them at: 312-923-2000
FAX them at 312-527-3072
Email them at: chicago (at) hob.com

# # #