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James Duggan

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Thom Cardwell

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Jamaican Reggae singer Buju Banton whose 1988 song (re-recorded in 1992), "Boom Bye Bye," that advocates violence against queers has recently had a series of concerts canceled after queer rights organizations expressed outrage and raised serious objections with the concert promoters Live Nation and AEG Live. 

Banton is still scheduled to perform in Philadelphia at the Trocadero on September 12.

The lyrics of Boom Bye Bye, as translated into Standard English read, "Get an automatic or an Uzi instead/Shoot them now. When Buju Banton arrives, "Faggots have to run/Or get a bullet in the head/Bang-bang in a faggot's head/Homeboys don't condone nasty men/They must die."  The song also advocates that we should have acid poured on us and that we should be burning alive.

While Banton claims he wrote this song as a teenager and that he is not homophobic, he refuses to stop performing the song saying that, "If my audience says they want 'Boom Bye Bye,' they get 'Boom Bye Bye' and that's my song, you know." He was filmed last year in Miami performing the song in concert. Royalties are still being generated by this song and it has remained a powerful anthem in Jamaica's dance club scene.

While I understand we cannot control the thoughts and beliefs of any individual or group, we can and must be willing to condemn them and to speak out against not just them but those that would facilitate their hate speech.

Those who would advocate the willful killing of others must be shunned by a just society and those companies that facilitate them should be boycotted and avoided to the fullest.

While Live Nation and AEG Live did the right thing in canceling the Baton concerts, the question still remains as to why did they took this client on to begin with.  Live Nation and AEG Live should not be applauded for canceling this hate speech tour; rather they need to be called out for their complete insensitivity to our community in planning it in the first place.

Would they have promoted an artist whose lyrics were "Bang-bang in a nigger's head...They must die."  No, they most assuredly would not!  If they did promote such a concert, there would be such a national out cry against them corporate heads would roll and elected officials would rise in condemnation of them on the floors of their respective legislative bodies. 

Press conferences would be held by civil rights advocates and groups condemning the artist, the promoters, and all the venues. This issue would be all over the news channels.  But when we queers are targeted by someone advocating our murder there is not a word of it on the news or from our elected officials.

It is not just Live Nation and AEG Live who was cooperating in facilitating hate towards our community. Ticketmaster is still selling tickets to Buju Banton concerts that have yet to be canceled joyfully making profits for their shareholders from hate speech.

Here in Philadelphia, the Trocadero, where many queer events have been held, is still going ahead with their plans to host the Buju Banton concert on September 12.  According to a report posted on the Philadelphia Gay News (PGN) website the Trocadero claims to not have played a role in booking Banton, but rather rented the theater to a company called Jamaican Dave Productions. 

A spokesperson for the Trocadero stated that Jamaican Dave has a contract to use their theater and typically stages five to six reggae shows a year at Trocadero.

The owners and the management of the Trocadero would have us believe that they have no control over the productions that take place in their property. Instead, they are trying to deflect the blame onto somebody else by claiming they were unaware of the controversy surrounding Banton beforehand. 

However, according to PGN, AEG Live spokesperson Michael Roth said, "We canceled the show, but the venue (Trocadero) and the co-promoter (Jamaican Dave) came to an agreement to go ahead with it."

It is extremely disturbing that this Philadelphia venue is still willing to host an artist who advocates the murder of queers. Such anti-queer decisions demand a response.

How can the owners and management of the Trocadero stand by their decision to host, and to profit from, an anti-queer artist?  How can they justify such a decision?  To attempt to hide behind an alleged contract with an independent promotions company is cowardly and will not be accepted.

If the Trocadero allows this anti-queer artist to perform, then we must organize a protest rally outside the Trocadero the night of this concert and begin a full blown boycott of this property by all queers, all queer organizations, and all our allies.  There must be a cost to facilitating an individual who promotes and advocates our murder.

We can only rely on ourselves to speak out against the attacks and hate speech that is constantly being directed at our community.  If we, and those who claim to be our allies, are not willing to raise our voice and take action against such corporate sponsorship of those who call for our death, then we deserve what we get.

We must strongly speak out against such hate and continue to call on companies never to support the advocacy of death of our community.

We've developed "a real thing" for 41-year-old actor, Jeffrey Donovan, the lead in the very popular and entertaining USA Network's "Burn Notice."  Editors of Men's Health (September 2009) also took quite a bit of notice by shooting a five-page fashion spread with the tall, slender, well-dressed, "black-listed CIA operative, Michael Westen," perhaps, these days, Donovan's alter ego? (He's happy with the way his career is going these days.) Though Donovan confessed to always being a "T-shirt and jeans" guy before the show's wardrobe department started dressing him up--in "dress shirts, flat-front trousers, lace-up brogues." He admitted that this makeover of sorts, really opened Donovan's eyes to both fashion and style. Not to mention the fact that Donovan boasts that, with the help of his personal trainer, he's never been in better physical shape for his role that requires him to, literally "run, jump, climb ropes, and fight during 14-hour shoots" all over the City of Miami, including cool, sunny, stunning, stylish South Beach. Vanity is hardly a personality trait with Donovan but is has definitely something of a fashionista, in the best of ways. "The clean, active style showed me that if you're athletic and in good shape, there's no reason to hide behind baggy pants or pleated suits."

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Vampires, anyone?  Evidently, these days, they're everyone and everywhere, on both the big screen with "Twilight" and a sequel, coming out in October, and the small screen with Here's "The Lair" and HBO's "True Blood." The latter of which is the creation of queer writer/director/producer Alan Ball of "Six Feet Under" and "American Beauty" whose darker side has turned from his fascination with death to the great undead with a totally contemporary twist (OUT, January 2009). Ball has adopted the series of Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire Mysteries in which vampires, living in present-day Louisiana, "have begun living openly in society and are seeking assimilation." Lucky for us that Ball decided to use some poetic license and blew greater life into the novel's minor character, Jason Stackhouse, played by hottie Australian actor, Ryan Kwanten, who spends more time out of his clothes than any of the leading females (lucky for us) and whenever he is dressed (sort of) only wears tank tops and the tightest fitting T-shirts. Kwanten has no problem showing his Aussie bum and absolutely adores working for Ball who he says is "so embracing to the artist."  How does the former soap opera star feel about playing a drug addicted, sex junkie, vampire?  "What's intriguing about them is the fact they were once human themselves but now have these extrasensory abilities, as opposed to a superhero, which is for me sort of above and beyond our reach. Vampires, it seems, are within the realm of possibility."

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Musical icon and fashion goddess Grace Jones definitely made her indelible mark on queer sensibility, with her "radical chic" costumes on stage and designer couture on the runway, She started out as a model, and, not surprisingly, was idolized by queer African-American designer Patrick Kelly (sadly lost to HIV/AIDS, at an early age, among others).  She skyrocketed to stardom with her disco era hits and her party girl outings with everyone on the 1980s scene in the clubs, fashion and the arts (she was close friends with queer graffiti artist Keith Haring, also lost to HIV/AIDS, at an early age). While she might have been a "Slave to the Rhythm" (one of her hit albums and title song), Jones was NEVER a "slave to fashion" always looking forward, always gender bending, always recreating herself (way before Madonna). Recently, she was described as "the originator" (METRO, August 25, 2009) in "fashion history."  Fashion writer Kenya Hunt writes of Jones, "The queen of androgyny revolutionized pop music in the '80s by dressing in exaggerated shoulder pads and body-conscious clothing (both of which are key ideas for fall), and sporting a flat top." After two decades of silence, the 60-year-old diva released her cutting-edge, classic Jones' CD this year, "Hurricane."  Why did she come out of hiding in semiretirement and make new music? She told writer Paul Flynn (OUT, January 2009). "I am Grace Jones. I can do anything I chose."

QOTA (Queers on the Avenue) is a monthly night out on East Passyunk Avenue in South Philly for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender neighbors, friends and allies.

This month QOTA will be held on Tuesday, September 15th, from 6-9 p.m. at Paradiso Restaurant & Wine Bar, located at 1627 East Passyunk Ave between Tasker and Morris. Drink specials and light fare will be provided. Philadelphia's own Carlotta Tendant will be making an apperence.

A portion of the proceeds will go to benefit Action Aids.

Go out - have fun - and help support this good cause!

Spread the word to all of your South Philly friends who want a night out in the hood and anyone else interested in checking out this fabulous neighborhood.