Neumos: Musician who urges death to gays to perform

Musicians who sing songs urging people to shoot gay men in the head, pour acid over them, and burn them alive is just fine for Neumos (925 E. Pike Street, Seattle), a popular Capitol Hill venue for music performances.

Apparently, Neumos thinks bringing a bigoted musician and his followers to an area with the city's largest population of gay residents and establishments frequented by Gays is a good idea. Fortunately, many disagree.

A pre-concert protest is being planned to take place outside of Neumos on Wednesday, September 27th at 7 PM. The concert starts at 9 PM.

A meeting to plan the protest has been called for Tuesday, September 26th at the Seattle LGBT Community Center (1115 East Pike Street, Seattle) at 7 PM.

HereÂ’s what the protest organizers, Seattle Stop Buju Banton, have to say:

[Buju] Banton's big hit song, "Boom Bye Bye," incites the execution-style killing of gay and lesbian people. He urges listeners to shoot gays in the head, pour acid over them, set them alight, and burn them like car tires. "Boom Bye Bye" is probably the most murderous incitement recorded by any singer in the world, and Banton still performs "Boom Bye Bye." The record remains on sale. He re-released it on his recent Greatest Hits album. Banton is still making money from his incitement to kill gay people.

Banton does not merely express his disapproval of homosexuality. He calls for all homosexuals to be killed and incites his listeners to go out and murder gays and lesbians. This goes way beyond an acceptable expression of opinion. Lesbian and gay people have a right to live their lives free from threats to kill them. Inciting violence against any human being for any reason is totally unacceptable.

By giving Banton any kind of platform, Neumos is colluding with a performer who wants gays and lesbians dead. It is our belief that no mainstream club would book performers who call for the death of other groups of people. Even if Banton agrees not to sing his "Boom Bye Bye" song at the Neumos, it would still be wrong to have him on the stage. Singers who incite the murder of gay people (or anyone else) should be shunned, not rewarded. Take the example of a singer with neo-Nazi sympathies, who had previously released a song calling for the gassing of Jews. Would Neumos host them if they promised not to sing their anti-Semitic diatribes? We think not.

Fearing violence, the Washington Association of Churches has issued its own statement calling for the cancellation of the concert:

We understand that Mr. Banton continues to perform "Boom Bye Bye" in his live performances and that violence against gays and lesbians has ensued in the wake of his appearances. Because of that, other communities and performance venues have recently canceled his performances.

We therefore urge people throughout Washington State to urge the management of Neumos nightclub to cancel Mr. Banton's performance as well.

We do not believe that our collective ethics, morality or religious values in Washington State can allow us to remain silent when someone calls a for murder to a reggae beat in an effort to disguise it as speech or art.

Mr. Banton's performance of "Boom Bye-Bye" in our community should not be protected as free speech -- because it is truly an amplified call for bigoted and hateful mayhem.

THE LYRICS

(The Jamaican patios lyrics to "Boom Bye Bye" are followed, line by line, by translations into Standard English)


Anytime Buju Banton come
Anytime Buju Banton comes

Batty bwoy get up an run
Faggots get up and run......

Chorus:
Boom bye bye
Boom (gun shot) bye bye (Goodbye, as in you're dead)

Inna batty bwoy head
In a faggot's head

Rude bwoy no promote no nasty man
Rude boy don't promote any nasty (queer) man

Dem haffi dead
They have to die.....

Verse
Send fi di matic an
Send for the automatic (gun) and

Di Uzi instead
The Uzi (gun) instead

Shoot dem no come if we shot dem-
Shoot them, don't come (to help them) if we shoot them......

Guy come near we
If a guy comes near me

Then his skin must peel
Then his skin must peel
(Note: In Jamaica, pouring acid on an individual is a common
revenge tactic)

Burn him up bad like an old tire wheel
Burn him up bad like an old tire


ACTION

To contact Neumos about their decision to book Buju Banton, call 206-709-9467 or e-mail info@neumos.com.

Event organizers are also urging people to contact their local elected officials to request additional police presence on Capitol Hill during the concert.