A new poster featured on a reggae dancehall blog.
After being moved from the National and taken off the Hat Factory’s roster, dancehall blog Dancehall.Mobi reports another venue change for the Buju Banton concert. According to this blog post, the show goes on at Skateland on Hull Street, this Saturday, September 26 with doors opening at 11 p.m. and the show starting at midnight.
UPDATE: Skateland has been cancelled: More from Style Weekly’s Don Harrison.
GayRVA received word this weekend that the Buju Banton show originally scheduled for the National and then moved to the Hat Factory has been cancelled. The event posting was removed from the National’s website and has not appeared on the Hat Factory site.
The Hat Factory’s box office confirmed the cancellation from the roster late on Friday according to Jay Squires, President of the Gay Community Center of Richmond. A memo from the landlord’s attorney states the same. No word has been received from Lion’s Heart Promotion on a rescheduled show according to Squires.
Times Dispatch writer Melissa Ruggieri reported Thursday that the promoters were renting the venue for the show according to the Hat Factory’s general manager Mitch Warnecke:
“Music is a form of art, and we try and not censor people’s messages or art, nor hold their past art against them,” Warnecke said. “This was in no way intended to be damaging or hurtful in any way whatsoever toward the bi, gay and lesbian community, and we support their beliefs as well.”
A show at the Norva is still schedule for Friday, September 25. GLBTLive, a video blogger based in Hampton Roads has formed a Facebook group calling for the protest of the Norfolk show.
UPDATE: Style Weekly just published this article.
Another gay man has been brutally murdered in Jamaica. John Terry, 65, was a British diplomat living in Jamaica.
His crime? Being gay, and being active in helping the local LGBT movement gain strength. For that, he was severely beaten and a cord was tied around his neck.
This is why we call attention to the singing of Buju Banton, the reggae singer who spouts homophobic lyrics that include death threats against “batty boys” (Jamaican slang for gay men), and oppose his singing in Richmond and Norfolk.
The National cancelled his appearance in Richmond, but now he is scheduled to appear at The Hat Factory (formerly Toad’s Place) in Shockoe Slip in Richmond. You can call them to register your request that they cancel the show, 804/788-4281.
And check out this video from Sunshine Cathedral MCC in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, where the pastor, Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins asks for prayers for the LGBT folks of Jamaica. The global MCC movement, through staff from Sunshine Cathedral, provides ongoing financial, spiritual, and leadership support to the LGBT rights movement in Jamaica.
God calls upon all people, and certainly people of faith, to speak up against hate–and to pray for every kind of love.
Rev. Dr. Robin H. Gorsline is pastor at Metropolitan Community Church of Richmond. He is also President of People of Faith for Equality in Virginia, an interfaith organization of gay and straight clergy and lay people working for equality for LGBT Virginians. Read more of his thoughts on faith and spirituality on his personal blog.
Sometimes, ideas about other people are wildly wide of the mark.
I was surprised when the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted to allow sexually active, monogamous LGBT persons to be ordained as clergy. Frankly, the ELCA is no hotbed of liberalism, and I was surprised. Pleased, of course, but surprised.
Then, there is Buju Banton, the reggae star. I used to think that reggae was all about love and peace (and maybe getting high). And the islands of the Caribbean were paradise.
Then, a couple of years ago, I met several young gay men from Jamaica who told about being helpless to stop mobs who were beating their friends to death, especially as the police did nothing to stop the brutality. They said Jamaica is violently homophobic.
Now many of us are working to cancel Banton’s appearance at The National. We are saying no to hate and talk of a
“war against the faggots.” We do this for our own community, and also for our siblings in Jamaica.
That may surprise some folks in Richmond. The LGBT community here tends toward live and let live–don’t make waves.
But its time we upset the powers that be. They need to know that Richmond Queers aren’t going to take disrespect lying down.
If our efforts to stop the concert–calls to the theater and the promoters, press statements and requests for intervention by influential people–don’t work, I know where I’ll be. I hope you will be there, too.
Let’s surprise some folks.
Rev. Dr. Robin H. Gorsline is pastor at Metropolitan Community Church of Richmond. He is also President of People of Faith for Equality in Virginia, an interfaith organization of gay and straight clergy and lay people working for equality for LGBT Virginians. Read more of his thoughts on faith and spirituality on his personal blog.
WRIC had an update on Buju Banton’s move to the Hat Factory during tonight’s news. Same date, same showtime.
This afternoon, the “Cancel Buju Banton…” Facebook group had been removed due to violations in terms of service. According to Jay Squires, President of the Gay Community Center of Richmond, community leaders have a conference call on Thursday to plan the next step.
In more Banton coverage, tomorrow’s Style Weekly has a piece on the controversy. Arts Editor Don Harrison interviews the concert promoter, Lion Heart Promotions.
“We are trying to move it away from the gay guys,” says Lion Heart’s manager, Kid Walker, who points out that homophobic sentiments among reggae artists is nothing new.
The article also follows up on this e-mail GayRVA received from a reader. City officials are remaining hands off.
City Council Vice President Ellen Robertson says she won’t be meeting with the mayor and police chief about stopping the show. Her liaison, John Westbrook, told Style Weekly in a written statement that “Robertson has been advised by the City Attorney that the City has no jurisdiction over the National Theatre.”
Read Style Weekly’s complete article here.
