More on Dancehall and Homophobia

According to this Planet Out article on Yahoo, it seems that the situation for gays and lesbians is getting even worse in Jamaica, and dancehall culture has a lot to do with it, despite the Reggae Compassionate act recently signed by leading artists Capleton, Sizzla, and Beenie Man. I knew a long time ago that, despite its embrace of the ganja, and its embrace by frat boys across the land, Rastafarianism was ultimately a fundamentalist religion that shared many traits with its American equivalent. Given its connection to this kind of intolerance, I wonder how anyone can support this scene and its music? I guess so long as you get to smoke a blunt with your buddies, it doesn't matter. Here's the killer quote:

Sociologist Orville Taylor suggested the situation could get worse before improving.

"The majority of people in this country are not pro-gay. The gays are fighting a losing battle. If it comes to a confrontation, the gay community and the acceptance level is going to be set back decades because it is a battle that people who are on their side and in strategic positions are not willing to fight," Taylor said.

"The kind of antipathies which have existed are now open hostilities. The gay community has taken on the dancehall culture, and when you take on the dancehall culture, you take on almost an entire population.

"And it is the dancehall population that wins and loses elections, and the politicians know this."

Reggae Artists Sign Tolerance Pact

Back in April I posted about an article on "murder music" in Planet Out, by way of Yahoo News, that pointed the finger at artists like Beenie Man for using their music to incite violence against gays. Now Planet Out reports that Beenie Man, Sizzla and Capleton have "sign[ed] a 'Reggae Compassionate Act' and promise to ban anti-gay lyrics in their music." It's nice to know that public pressure can still perhaps have an effect on people, especially when it threatens to hit them in their wallets.