Jamaican reggae star Buju Banton first stirred up the gay community 21 years ago with his violence-filled homophobic track “Boom Bye Bye,” and the LGBT has rightfully pressed him on it ever since. The singer performed in San Francisco last Sunday, but with protests threatening to eighty-six the concert, Banton decided to face his harshest critics.
As reported by SF Weekly and others, Banton and his manager Tracii McGregor met with notable members of the gay community last week including San Francisco supervisors Bevan Dufty and Eric Mar, LGBT Center executive director Rebecca Rolfe, blogger Michael Petrelis and activist Andrea Shorter. Needless to say, the gay activists pulled no punches.
The three-time Grammy nominee was honest and open enough to relax some nerves, at the very least. He noted that he’s permanently stripped “Boom Bye Bye” from his set lists and that he founded Operation Willy, an organization that promotes safe sex to help fight AIDS. That alone showed common ground between the two camps, but the LGBT community members said they are now hopeful that they can work together with Banton to help address issues that affect both the gay and reggae communities.
The concert took place as planned with everyone’s blessing. Interestingly, the gay community in Miami has now reached out to his reps for a meeting as well. Hopefully, Banton will continue to engage the community and become a role model for change within his scene.
Image by Kenyata Films courtesy of Flickr.
