Mark your calendars for October 19. Buju Banton is to be tried that day in Kingston, Jamaica. He faces assault charges stemming from his involvement in a mob break-in of a house in Kingston. The occupants of the house were beaten while their attackers shouted anti-gay insults. Two of the victims had to be transferred to a hospital.
Buju is the youngest of 15 children; if one of his sisters and brothers isn’t gay, then surely at least one of them has shaken hands with a homo at some time. He is notorious for recording and performing songs advocating violence against gay people. In his song Boom Boom Bye Bye he glorifies himself for shooting gay people in their heads. When that song first came out, he had just signed with Mercury records. They compelled him to issue a statement, but he refused to actually apologize. He said his Rastafarian religion gave him all the authority he needed to propagate hatred against gays. He has performed the song live many times since.
This trial is of particular import because homosexual behavior is illegal in Jamaica. Authorities there, including the police, are often complicit and at times directly involved in violence against homos in Jamaica.
